Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor & Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday fired the first response after BJP secured victory in the Chandigarh Mayoral Elections. BJP won the Chandigarh mayoral elections with 16 votes for its mayoral candidate Manoj Sonkar. The Congress Mayor candidate got 12 votes. 8 votes were declared invalid. The proceedings began at 10:40 am after Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh arrived at the MC office. The Chandigarh Mayoral Poll was the first time when I.N.D.I.A alliance locked horns with the BJP. It was expected that with AAP and Congress joining hands, the Chandigarh Mayoral Polls would be won by INDIA alliance. However, it was BJP who sealed the unexpected victory.
Reacting to this, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of manipulating the election. Taking to his official X handle, Arvind Kejriwal wrote, "The kind of foul play that has been in Chandigarh Mayor Election in broad daylight, is a matter of concern. If they stoop to this level in a Mayor election, they can go to any level in the general election. This is very worrying. (Translated Version)"
Not only this, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha called a press conference and stated that he will expose the fraud committed by the BJP in the Chandigarh Mayor Polls. "I along with Senior Congress leader Pawan Bansal will address a joint press conference at 2:30PM at Punjab Bhawan, Chandigarh. We will expose the FRAUD that BJP has committed today in Chandigarh Mayor Elections."
BJP councilor Manoj Sonkar has become the new Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. He defeated AAP-Congress's I.N.D.I.A candidate Kuldeep Tita by 4 votes. MP and 35 councilors cast their votes for the mayor election. Out of which BJP's Manoj got 16 votes and the AAP-Congress candidate got 12 votes, while 8 votes were not included in the counting. However, whether it was invalid or there was some other reason is not yet known.
Before the counting seemed like this- Total Votes = 36, AAP (13) + CONG (07) = 20 Votes, BJP = 15 Votes, Akali Dal = 1 Vote. However, the dynamics changed after 8 votes were declared invalid. Notably, the AAP and Congress councilors alleged that election officer Anil Masih was tampering with the ballot paper. Anil Masih said that he was just signing them. Councilors of both parties created a ruckus regarding this.