New Delhi: The Supreme Court has saved democracy in these "difficult times", Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday, thanking the court for its decision in the Chandigarh mayoral polls case. The top court has said it would direct recounting of votes polled in the controversial elections and declaration of result after considering the eight "defaced" ballots that were declared invalid by the returning officer. "Thank you SC for saving democracy in these difficult times," Kejriwal said in a post on X.
The BJP won the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30 defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the returning officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots. Manoj Sonkar of the BJP defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rival's 12 to bag the mayor's post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.
"Ultimately truth has prevailed...we welcome the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the mayor election in Chandigarh... the CJI declared AAP's Kuldeep Kumar as mayor, upholding the 8 votes rejected by the presiding officer.. They will be given a befitting reply to the hooliganism openly committed by BJP," said Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in a post on X.
"Supreme Court's decision on farcical Chandigarh mayoral polls will go long way to save Indian democracy," said Congress leader KC Venugopal. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "The Supreme Court has saved Democracy from the fangs of an autocratic BJP, which resorted to dirty election manipulation. The institutional sabotage in the #ChandigarhMayorPolls is only a tip of the iceberg in Modi-Shah’s devious conspiracy to trample Democracy."
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Read more: SC Sets Aside Chandigarh Mayoral Poll Result, Declares AAP Candidate The Winner
