The AAP and the Congress on Monday hailed the Supreme Court expressing annoyance after watching a video of the electoral proceedings during the Chandigarh mayoral polls, saying it was a ''tight slap'' on the face of the BJP.
Speaking to reporters, AAP leader Malvinder Singh Kang said the Supreme Court observed that what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral elections was a mockery of democracy. ''The entire nation witnessed the working style of the BJP on January 30. It not only disrespected the mandate of the people of Chandigarh but also hurt the faith of all citizens in our democracy,'' Kang said. Referring to the top court's observations, Kang said it has restored the faith of the people in democracy and the judicial system. ''It is a tight slap on the face of the BJP,'' he added. "People will remember this and will give the BJP a befitting reply in the general elections,'' Kang, the chief spokesperson of the AAP's Punjab unit, said.
Senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal also hailed the top court's observations and said it was the victory of truth. ''When we made the allegations, the BJP was claiming to be clean. Now, where is the BJP's integrity? The BJP conspired to win the mayoral elections by undermining democratic values, which was first exposed in the people's court, and now in the court of law. The BJP should apologise for its actions to the entire country,'' Bansal said.
HS Lucky, the Congress' Chandigarh unit chief, said the people of the Union Territory had looked to the Supreme Court for justice. ''Today's decision has further emboldened the faith of the common man in the judicial system and the process of law. We have full hope that justice will prevail and the truth will triumph,'' Lucky said.
Manoj Sonkar of the BJP had defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor's post, polling 16 votes against his rival's 12. Eight votes were declared invalid. The opposition councillors alleged that the presiding officer had tampered with the ballot papers, a charge rubbished by the BJP. The AAP moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and sought fresh elections under the supervision of a retired judge but the court refused to grant any interim relief.