BJP sweeps Chandigarh mayoral polls; opposition allies AAP, Cong cry foul

PTI, Jan 30, 2024, 4:06 PM IST

The BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls on Tuesday, retaining the three top posts in a setback to the AAP and the Congress which had contested the elections as allies.

Councillors from the two INDIA bloc parties created a ruckus in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House as the result for the mayor’s post was declared, and boycotted the next phase – elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar defeated the AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor’s post, polling 16 votes against the 12 won 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.

Opposition councilors alleged there was tampering with the ballot papers at the elections, a charge rubbished by the BJP. On social media, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal expressed “serious concern” over the “cheating” in “broad daylight”.

An AAP councilor said the party will approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Tuesday’s elections too were held on the directions of the high court after a postponement on January 18.

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

”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.

He claimed that the Congress-AAP agent was not allowed to examine the ballot papers.

“The presiding officer announced 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.

Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat alleged that the presiding officer did not call the party’s election agent when the ballot box was opened for counting. ”We do not accept the result,” he said.

AAP councillor Prem Lata said they will approach the high court against the result.

”A fraud was played on us. No free and fair election took place,” another councillor said.

BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi rubbished the opposition allegations and said if the councilors have any objections, they can challenge the result.

The newly elected mayor was to hold the elections to 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.

In Punjab, the AAP and the Congress have indicated that they are reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha polls together even though they are both in the INDIA grouping. But they agreed to contest together in mayoral elections in Chandigarh, the Union Territory that serves as the capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

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.” Tight security arrangements were in place around the municipal corporation building for the polls. About 700 police personnel, along with those from the paramilitary forces, were deployed, officials said.

The polls were originally scheduled for January 18 but deferred to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer fell ill. The administration had at that time also said the polls were postponed after assessing the law and order situation.

The administration’s order deferring the polls had triggered protests by the Congress and the AAP councillors.

On January 24, the high court 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”.

Elections to the three posts are held every year during the House’s five-year term. The Congress had abstained from voting in 2022 and 2023, leading to a BJP victory.

The election for the mayor’s post is through a secret ballot.

In this year’s elections, the post was reserved for a candidate from the Scheduled Caste category.