SC overturns Chandigarh mayoral poll result, declares defeated AAP candidate winner

NEW DELHI, Feb 20: The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll in which the BJP candidate had emerged an unlikely winner, and declared defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new city mayor.
It also ordered prosecution of the returning officer for the poll, Anil Masih, a BJP leader, for his “misdemeanour”, after finding serious faults in the conduct of the January 30 election.
The apex court made it clear that it was not quashing the entire electoral exercise and restricting itself to dealing with the wrong-doings in the counting process which led to invalidation of eight votes cast in Kumar’s favour.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said it was evident that Masih made deliberate attempt to deface eight ballot papers.
The BJP had won the mayoral poll 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 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had 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.
Kejriwal thanks SC, says it saved democracy
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.
Terming the decision historic, Kejriwal at a press conference said that this was big victory for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
“The message of this poll is that if INDIA bloc parties remain united and work strategically, they can defeat the BJP,” he said.
The INDIA bloc has been formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and it includes the Congress, the AAP, the TMC and the Samajwadi Party among others. Hitting out at the BJP, Kejriwal said if it can “steal” eight votes out of 36 in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, what will it do in the upcoming elections in which 90 crore votes will be polled.
“Thank you SC for saving democracy in these difficult times,” he said in a post on X earlier Tuesday. (PTI)