“The mayor’s resignation makes it clear that there was manipulation in the election. If the election is not won, our councilors are being purchased and broken,” Arvind Kejriwal said.
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal today said that the resignation of BJP leader Manoj Sonkar has proved that the elections were manipulated.
Kejriwal said, “With the resignation of the mayor, it has become clear that there was manipulation in the elections. If the elections are not won then our councilors are being bought and broken.”
His comments came a day after Mr Sonkar resigned from the post ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition claiming alleged tampering in the mayoral elections.
Arvind Kejriwal’s comments after Chandigarh Mayor’s resignation, councilors’ switch sides
New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal today said that the resignation of BJP leader Manoj Sonkar has proved that the elections were manipulated.
Kejriwal said, “With the resignation of the mayor, it has become clear that there was manipulation in the elections. If the elections are not won then our councilors are being bought and broken.”
His comments came a day after Mr Sonkar resigned from the post ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court on a petition claiming alleged tampering in the mayoral elections.
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Mr. Sonkar had won the elections held on January 30 by defeating Aam Aadmi Party’s Kuldeep Kumar.
In the election, Mr. Sonkar got 16 votes as against 12 votes of the AAP candidate. The BJP’s victory faced controversy as 8 votes were declared invalid, leading to intense investigation and allegations from the opposition.
Taking a tough stance on the case of alleged defacement of ballot papers during the Chandigarh Mayor elections, the Supreme Court has said that Returning Officer Anil Masih should be prosecuted. The court said this after seeking Mr Masih’s reply, saying this is the first time in the history of independent India that a returning officer has been cross-examined by the Chief Justice.
After the elections, three AAP councilors – Poonam Devi, Neha and Gurucharan Kala – joined the BJP in a single day.
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With this development, BJP’s strength in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation increased to 17. Additionally, the BJP has the support of one councilor from the Shiromani Akali Dal, and the BJP’s Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher has voting rights as an ex-officio member. Their total number is 19.
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Now AAP is left with 10 councilors and its ally Congress has seven councilors, who find themselves in a challenging situation. The election has seen chaos with allegations of fraud and electoral irregularities. The opposition, including AAP and Congress councillors, accused the BJP of not following proper electoral procedures and claimed that presiding officer Anil Masih was caught “tampering” with ballot papers in a video submitted to the Supreme Court. However, BJP has rejected these allegations outright.