Chandigarh:

BJP chief Manoj Sonkar resigned as Chandigarh mayor late final night, a day forward of the Supreme Court docket listening to within the alleged tampering within the mayoral election. He gained the ballot – seen as the primary election battle towards the INDIA bloc by defeating the Aam Aadmi Occasion’s (AAP) Kuldeep Kumar – lest than a month in the past, on January 30.

The BJP secured 16 votes and Kuldeep Singh, the joint candidate of the Congress and AAP was capable of handle 12 votes. 8 votes – that grew to become a flashpoint between the BJP and opposition – have been declared invalid.

The troubles for the AAP, nevertheless, are removed from over as three of its councillors – Poonam Devi, Neha and Gurcharan Kala – joined the BJP yesterday. The BJP had 14 councillors within the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Company and after at present’s additions, the tally is at 17. Additionally they have the assist of 1 Shiromani Akali Dal councillor and BJP’s Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher additionally has voting rights as an ex-officio member which brings BJP to the magic variety of 19.

The AAP now has 10 councillors whereas its ally Congress has seven.

Quickly after the outcomes have been declared on January 30, chaos broke out within the Home with Congress and AAP councillors accusing the BJP of dishonest and never following the due electoral course of. Additionally they alleged that presiding officer Anil Masih was caught “tampering” with poll papers in a video that they later submitted to the Supreme Court docket. The cost was rubbished by the BJP.

Appalled by the alleged defacing of poll papers, the Supreme Court docket had mentioned it amounted to a mockery of democracy and ordered that the ballots and the video of the electoral proceedings be preserved.

“Is that this the behaviour of a returning officer? He seems on the digicam, and defaces the poll clearly,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud mentioned after viewing a video of the counting. 

The court docket had requested Masih, the designated council member, should seem earlier than it on February 19.

The AAP and Congress described the court docket’s observations as a “tight slap” for the BJP.

The mayoral ballot, initially scheduled for January 18, was deferred to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer fell unwell.

The Excessive Court docket on January 24 directed the administration to carry the mayoral polls at 10 am on January 30. Whereas dismissing the order suspending the elections, the court docket referred to as it “unreasonable, unjustified and arbitrary”.

The AAP had first approached the Punjab and Haryana Excessive Court docket and sought contemporary elections underneath the supervision of a retired decide however the court docket refused to grant any interim aid. Kuldeep Kumar, who misplaced the Chandigarh mayoral election, then went to the Supreme Court docket towards the Excessive Court docket’s order.