8 invalid votes spark uproar: Oppn accuses BJP of rigging, AAP moves HC for fresh poll

Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a surprise victory in Tuesday’s Chandigarh mayoral polls, jolting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress alliance who fielded a joint candidate. Manoj Sonkar, the BJP nominee, won the poll with 16 votes against the 12 votes bagged by Kuldeep Kumar of the AAP, whose candidacy was backed by the Congress as part of their INDIA bloc partnership.

Eight votes were declared invalid which triggered uproar in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House, with AAP and Congress councillors accusing foul play and boycotting the subsequent elections for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

Later in the day, AAP filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, challenging the results and demanding fresh elections under the supervision of a retired High Court judge. According to party sources, the petition was filed by councillor Kumar.

The petitioner sought setting aside the process of the election of mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, alleging “complete fraud and forgery”, the sources said.

BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar polled 16 votes as against 12 polled by his rival. Eight votes were declared invalid. BJP nominees Kuljit Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared elected to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.

BJP dismissed the charge of tampering with the ballot papers levelled by the opposition councillors. On social media, AAP chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed “serious concern” over the “cheating” in “broad daylight”.

The AAP and the Congress accused presiding officer Anil Masih of making some marks on the ballots during the counting, rendering them invalid. They contended that the “invalid” ballots tilted the balance in favour of the BJP candidate.

“The worst fears of unabashed tampering by the BJP’s councillor-presiding officer in a premeditated and planned intrigue to murder democracy have come true in the Chandigarh mayoral elections,” Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal alleged.

“The presiding officer announced a rejection of eight votes, declared the BJP candidate the winner and went away. BJP members rushed to the table and tore off the ballot papers,” he alleged.

The newly elected mayor was to hold the elections for the two most senior posts after him. With the opposition parties boycotting this phase of mayoral polls, these posts also went to the BJP.

The BJP has 14 councillors in the 35-member corporation. Its Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher also has voting rights as an ex-officio member. The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.

As part of the alliance in Chandigarh, the AAP contested for the mayor’s post while the Congress fielded candidates for the two other posts.

AAP leader Kejriwal tweeted on X, “If these people can stoop to this level in a mayoral poll, they could go to any extent in the national elections. This is very worrying.”

On January 24, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the Chandigarh administration to hold the mayoral polls at 10 am on January 30. While quashing the order postponing the elections, the court called it “unreasonable, unjustified and arbitrary”. The election for the mayor’s post is through a secret ballot. This year the post was reserved for a candidate from the Scheduled Caste category.

Alleging a “shameless capture” of the democratic system in the country, the Congress hit out at the BJP.

“Brazen, shameless capture of the democratic system. Declaring opposition votes invalid to win the Mayor Election in Chandigarh shows that it is second nature for the BJP to override the democratic mandate,” AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said in a post on X.

“First they abruptly postponed the elections, and then devised a way to capture it. This is a warning for all those who are deluded into thinking that the Modi-led BJP will allow democracy to function if they win in 2024,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera also said, “That the BJP chose January 30 to kill Democracy in Chandigarh does not come as a surprise.”

AAP leader and Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha also questioned the Chandigarh mayoral poll process.

He said the AAP-Congress alliance was destined to win the Chandigarh mayoral polls as they had 20 votes in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House.

“Victory of our alliance was certain, but sensing imminent defeat, the BJP hatched conspiracies. First, the presiding officer, who was to conduct polls on January 18, was made to fall ill. Thereafter an attempt was made to buy councillors of the AAP. When BJP’s ‘operation lotus’ failed, then they did fraud (in the mayoral polls),” he alleged.

Replying to a question, Chadha said, “This is not a setback for one coalition or one party. It is a setback for India’s democracy and as a democrat, we are aggrieved, we are flabbergasted.”

“We are worried as to what will happen in upcoming 2024 polls if the BJP can stoop to such a low level and commit forgery and illegality. The BJP can go to any level to rig the election process and indulge in every possible electoral fraud and electoral malpractices,” he said.