Chandigarh: AAP moves HC, seeks fresh mayoral polls under supervision of retired judge
“It’s a black day for democracy,” says Arvind Kejriwal
“It’s a black day for democracy,” says Arvind Kejriwal
“It’s a black day for democracy,” says Arvind Kejriwal
“It’s a black day for democracy,” says Arvind Kejriwal
The Chandigarh mayor election result announced on Tuesday has stirred up a political storm with the Aam Aadmi Party moving the Punjab-Haryana High Court, highlighting concerns over the integrity of the entire process.
The petition, filed by AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar, who was the candidate for the mayor post, has demanded a fresh election in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired judge of the high court.
The petition also demanded investigation by an independent agency into the "entire fraud" committed during the election process. The court will hear the matter on Wednesday.
The BJP swept the polls, winning all the three posts including of mayor, defeating the Congress-AAP alliance. The BJP got 16 votes, while the AAP-Congress alliance bagged 12 votes despite having 20 councillors.
The INDIA bloc parties accused the presiding officer of rigging and not following the due electoral process. Eight out of 36 votes were declared invalid by presiding authority Anil Masih, a nominated councilor, with no voting right.
"It is a black day for democracy. Everyone saw how they stole votes and forcibly made their candidate win. The issue is not who becomes mayor but the country should not lose and the democracy should not lose. Mayors come and go, parties come and go," AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
Accusing the BJP of indulging in "hooliganism" in full public view, Kejriwal said if people do not stop it together it will be extremely "dangerous" for the nation.
"The AAP-Congress alliance had a clear majority and it was a straight election. Eight votes or 25 per cent of the total votes were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The mayoral poll result shows there is something wrong and at a large scale, they can go to any extent in national polls," he alleged.
The Congress termed it as the “shameless capture of the democratic system”.
"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.