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Chandigarh AAP, Congress protest, want action against presiding officer
INDIA bloc supporters clash with police when prevented from forcing their way into Sector 17 police station in Chandigarh
A day after the BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral elections, opposition INDIA bloc members, comprising Aam Aadmi Party and Congress activists, held a protest and submitted a complaint to the police, demanding action against presiding officer Anil Masih, who they claimed had tampered with ballot papers during the election that led to the declaration of eight votes as invalid.
The Congress and AAP councillors along with supporters gathered in Sector 17 in the heart of Chandigarh and marched to the nearby police station, raising anti-BJP slogans. Since police personnel had put up barricades, a scuffle broke out when the councillors tried to force their way into the police station.
AAP councillor Kuldeep Dhalor, who was the mayor candidate from INDIA bloc and was defeated by BJP’s Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday, said, “The nominated councillor and BJP office-bearer, Anil Masih, had deliberately tampered with the votes by marking the ballot papers with a pen. He had not even shared the reason for declaring the votes invalid. According to precedent, the presiding officer explains the invalidity in the presence of the deputy commissioner. No rules were followed on Tuesday. We demand a criminal case against Masih and his arrest. Videos are proof he tampered with the votes.”
Former MP and Chandigarh Congress leader Pawan Kumar Bansal said: “If a decision goes against them (the BJP), they do everything they can to turn things around in their favour. We have lodged a complaint in the police station. What their presiding officer has done is a crime and an FIR should be registered against him. The court will declare these elections as null and void.”
Chandigarh Youth Congress president Manoj Lubana held a protest outside the municipal corporation office against the “undemocratic mayoral elections”. Twelve Youth Congress activists were detained and taken to the Sector 11 police station. The leaders were later released.
What happened during Tuesday’s voting
In the Chandigarh MC House of 35, the INDIA bloc candidate, Kuldeep Dhalor, was tipped to win after the AAP with 13 members, and the Congress, with seven, joined hands and supported a joint nominee.
But he was defeated by BJP’s Manoj Sonkar after the nominated councillor officiating the election, Anil Masih, declared eight votes invalid.
No official reason was given for the decision during the announcement of the results or even eight hours later, when deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap finally came out with an official statement. Masih, later in the evening, said the eight ballot papers had some “pen marks”.
Angry Congress and AAP councillors tried to snatch ballot papers to see the reason for the invalidation, but the BJP councillors helped the chair and officials. According to councillors, some ballot papers even got torn in the melee.
Sonkar was eventually declared winner with 16 votes in his favour – the BJP had 14 votes of councillors and an additional one from local MP Kirron Kher, with the 16th vote ostensibly coming from sole Shiromani Akali Dal candidate Hardeep Singh.
Dhalor got 12 votes.
Voting for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor began shortly afterwards, but the Opposition had walked out by then.
Only the BJP councillors and the lone SAD councillor voted for the two posts. As a result, BJP’s Kuljeet Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, also polling 16 votes each.
No votes were polled in the favour of INDIA bloc candidates Gurpreet Singh Gabi and Nirmala Devi.
