Chandigarh mayor poll: AAP to move SC for early hearing on plea, says CM

Bhagwant Mann’s statement came hours after Punjab and Haryana high court declined AAP candidate Kuldeep Dhalor’s plea to restrain newly elected Chandigarh mayor Manoj Sonkar of BJP from discharging his duties

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday said that the Aam Aadmi Party will move the Supreme Court for an early hearing of its petition related to the mayoral election in Chandigarh.

Aam Aadmi Party and Congress councillors trying to force their way into the Sector 17 police station in Chandigarh on Wednesday to lodge a complaint against the mayoral poll presiding officer. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

Mann, who was talking to select reporters after a meeting in Chandigarh, said that the AAP will a petition in the Supreme Court to press for the early hearing of the matter. “It is all there in the video. What report will the Chandigarh administration give in three weeks?” he said, calling the Chandigarh mayoral poll “an example of murder of democracy”.

Mann’s statement came hours after the high court declined the AAP candidate Kuldeep Dhalor’s plea to restrain newly elected Chandigarh mayor Manoj Sonkar of the BJP from discharging his duties. The court, however, issued notice to the Union Territory administration to respond within three weeks. Dhalor was the joint candidate of the AAP and the Congress against Sonkar of the BJP.

The election witnessed high drama after the presiding officer declared eight votes of the Congress and AAP councilors as invalid, resulting in Sonkar’s win.