New Delhi:The Aam Aami Party has moved Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking fresh polls for Chandigarh mayor's post under the supervision of a retired judge after the party, along with Congress, alleged vote tampering in the high-stakes election on Tuesday.
As AAP moved the court, Delhi Chief Minister and party convener Arvind Kejriwal said the INDIA bloc would have registered its first win today had there been no 'cheating' in the mayoral polls.
"If Chandigarh mayor elections were conducted honestly, INDIA bloc would have registered its first win today," Kejriwal said in a press conference here. He called it a "black day" for democracy and said the BJP got their candidate "elected by force".
"It was straight election since AAP-Congress had majority but 25% votes were declared invalid; what kind of election was this; they will stoop to any low to win," Kejriwal said. "I feel they (BJP) are not getting majority in LS polls; they are resorting to extreme actions to target opposition leaders," he said.
Earlier in the day, both Aam Aadmi Party and Congress alleged 'cheating' in Chandiragh mayoral polls after BJP's Manoj Sonkar defeated AAP's Kuldeep Kumar, who was fielded as part of an alliance with the Congress, to win the post of mayor.
The polls, held following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, assume significance with opposition INDIA bloc members Congress and AAP joining hands to contest the elections. Sonkar polled 16 votes while Kumar secured 12. Eight votes were declared invalid. The newly elected mayor will hold the elections to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. As part of the alliance, the AAP was contesting for the mayor's post while the Congress has fielded candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring shared a video and alleged the BJP is "hell-bent to murder democracy". "The attached video clearly shows the presiding officer manipulating votes. BJP is not just corrupt. It is hell-bent to murder democracy. They are comfortable using muscle power, agencies, money, pressure tactics, using the officers and what not. The attached video clearly shows the presiding officer manipulating votes," he said.
Raja Warring added, "Today’s incident is not just concerning for the political class… it should be concerning for every parent, for every student, for every citizen of this country… do we want such future for our kids? Do we want a dictatorship? And if the answer is no… it’s time to fight back! Otherwise, it will soon be too late."
BJP's Sonkar says levelling allegations AAP-Congress' job
Reacted to the allegations of AAP, newly-elected Chandigarh Mayor Manoj Sonkar said that levelling allegations is the AAP-Congress job. "Wherever they don't have their way, they level allegations...Everything is on camera. But when they couldn't digest their defeat, they created this atmosphere and started blaming us," Sonkar said.
BJP leader Manoj Sonkar addressing media after winning Chandigarh mayoral polls
He further alleged that AAP-Congress leaders started tearing ballot papers and jostling people around after the name of the Mayor was announced. "They started tearing ballot papers and jostling people around after the name of the Mayor was announced...When they can't run a small city, how can they run a state?...Let them do press conference, we are not wrong. We have won the election," he added.
