The mayor’s election held in Chandigarh on Tuesday is mired in controversies. The opposition has raised questions on BJP’s victory and accused it of dishonesty.
The statement of Presiding Officer Anil Masih, who was at the center of controversy after allegations of tampering in ballot papers, has come to light.
He defended his actions during the counting of votes, claiming that members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress had requested for replacement of 11 ballot papers due to marks and stains.
He said, “A total of 36 votes were cast. When we were releasing the ballot papers, some AAP and Congress councilors were concerned that there were stains and marks on the papers.
They asked me to change about 11 ballot papers. I honored his request and set aside the ballot papers in question and issued him fresh ballot papers.”
According to Christ, chaos broke out when the results were about to be announced. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar got 16 votes, AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar got 12 votes and eight votes were declared invalid.
Masih alleged that instead of verifying the ballot papers, AAP and some Congress councilors created disruption.
He said, “I asked the polling agent of the AAP-Congress candidate to scrutinize the ballot paper, but instead of doing so, AAP and some Congress councilors jumped on the table to disrupt the process. They captured the ballot papers and tore them up. AAP and Congress hatched a conspiracy to derail the election process.”
Let us tell you that politics has intensified regarding Chandigarh Mayor elections. BJP alleges that the councilors, being angry with the internal pressure and coercion of the Aam Aadmi Party, have deliberately made their votes invalid.
On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party and Congress Party are accusing BJP of fraud in Chandigarh Mayor elections.
BJP national president JP Nadda, excited by the victory of the BJP candidate despite the opposition alliance having more seats in the mayor’s election held in Chandigarh, took a dig at the opposition alliance.
He said that the defeat showed that neither his arithmetic was working nor his chemistry was working. Along with this, he congratulated his party unit for the victory in the Union Territory. BJP’s Manoj Sonkar won the Chandigarh mayor’s election on Tuesday by defeating AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar.
Shameless capture of democratic system: Congress
Congress on Tuesday said it was not surprised that the BJP chose January 30 to murder democracy in Chandigarh.
Party’s organization general secretary KC Venugopal posted on Twitter that the democratic system was captured in a brazen manner.
Congress leader Pawan Kheda said, it is no surprise that BJP chose January 30 to murder democracy in Chandigarh.
Dishonesty was done in Mayor elections: Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday alleged that there was blatant dishonesty in the elections held for the post of mayor in Chandigarh.
Kejriwal posted on X and said, the manner in which dishonesty has been done in broad daylight in the election for the post of Mayor of Chandigarh is extremely worrying.
If these people can stoop so low in the mayor’s election, then they can go to any extent in the national election.
Total 35 councilors in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation
There are a total of 35 councilors in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. BJP MP from Chandigarh Kirron Kher also exercised her franchise in these elections. In this way, a total of 36 voters cast their votes in this election.
BJP has 14 councilors in the House, AAP has 13 and Congress has seven. Hardeep Singh is the only councilor of Shiromani Akali Dal.
In terms of numerical strength in the House, there were 15 votes in favor of BJP and 20 votes in favor of India Alliance. Out of 20 councilors of India Alliance, votes of only 12 were declared valid.
Eight of his votes were invalidated. In this way, despite being less than the majority in numbers, BJP won the election.