Amid intense drama, the BJP candidate for Chandigarh Mayor election was declared victorious by the presiding officer on Tuesday as eight votes of the AAP-Congress block were declared invalid, prompting the INDIA alliance partners to term it as "murder of democracy".
BJP retained the three top posts as 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.
Immediately after Presiding Officer Anil Masih declared the result, Sonkar sat on the Mayor's Chair as the Councillors from the two INDIA bloc parties created a ruckus in the Chandigarh MCC House and tried to stop him. Marshals were pressed in to control the situation. Protesting against the poll results, the Opposition- Congress and AAP councilors boycotted the next phase – elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. Later, elections on these two posts were held and BJP also retained the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. BJP nominees Kuljit Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared elected to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively.
Having witnessed a lot of twists and turns, the polling process was finally held in the presence of Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh. The administration had deployed additional police forces around the MCC campus. Voting, which was scheduled to start at 10 am, began after almost an hour’s delay as the deputy commissioner and some BJP councillors arrived late. Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, who is the ex-officio member of the House, cast her vote first. A total of 36 votes were polled during the hour-long process. BJP had only 15 members in the house, while, AAP-Congress combine comprised 20 members apart from a lone Shiromani Akali Dal councilor.
Opposition councilors alleged there was tampering with the ballot papers at the elections, a charge rubbished by the BJP. AAP approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court later in the day even as 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,” former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal alleged.
Bansal claimed that the Congress-AAP agent was not allowed to examine the ballot papers.“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.
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," she said. "A fraud was played on us. No free and fair election took place," another councillor said. Chandigarh Congress President HS Lucky said the BJP intentionally got a presiding officer who holds allegiance to them and he rigged it.” While signing, he marked on eight votes to declare them invalid. This is injustice and the death of democracy.
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. AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. 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."
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.
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.
Media persons were denied entry to the press gallery to cover the election. Reporters could, however, watch the polling process on a screen installed in the conference room which had no audio output.
