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Day before SC hearing, Sonkar resigns as Chandigarh mayor, 3 AAP councillors switch to BJP
BJP now has an edge with 19 votes in its favour in the event the Supreme Court orders a re-election for the Chandigarh mayor’s post
In more twists in the Chandigarh mayoral poll saga, three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and newly elected mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned from the post on Sunday, a day before the Supreme Court is scheduled to resume its hearing on AAP’s petition alleging tampering of votes in the election held on January 30.
The AAP councillors’ switch to the BJP is set to give the latter the numerical edge in the event a fresh election is ordered by the apex court. In the Chandigarh MC House of 35 (and one MP, BJP’s Kirron Kher, as ex-officio member), a party needs 19 votes to win the poll.
The latest development will reduce the strength of the AAP and the Congress, which had jointly contested the poll, from 20 to 17, and increase the BJP’s support from 16 (including one vote from the Shiromani Akali Dal) to 19.
“AAP councillors Neha Musavat and Poonam Sandeep Kumar joined the BJP and Gurcharan Singh Kala returned to the fold on Sunday,” former Chandigarh BJP chief Arun Sood confirmed.
The three AAP leaders switched sides in the presence of BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde at his residence in Delhi, Sood added.
On January 13, Kala, who was earlier with the BJP, had joined the AAP and even voted for it during the January 30 election. He, however, returned to the saffron fold on Sunday.
“It is very unfortunate that our councillors have moved over to the BJP. Even for the election for a mayor, BJP has to execute Operation Lotus. It’s really a shame. The courts must take cognisance of this horse trading by the BJP by using money bags,” AAP leader Prem Garg said, adding, “The Supreme Court should strongly recommend anti-defection law in the municipal corporation, where elections are held on party symbols. The mayoral poll should be held by show of hands.”
The developments came evenas Sonkar, who defeated Kuldeep Dhalor, the joint mayoral candidate put up by INDIA bloc constituents AAP and Congress, stepped down from the post.
“At the national convention of the BJP in Delhi, the top leadership asked Sonkar to resign as mayor. Sonkar quit the post after this was conveyed to him by Chandigarh BJP chief Jatinder Malhotra. He submitted his resignation to the Chandigarh municipal corporation commissioner,” a senior BJP leader said, on the condition of anonymity.
Malhotra said Sonkar had resigned on moral grounds, as the Opposition was levelling “baseless allegations” against him and the election process. “We are ready for fresh elections and are sure to win again,” he said.
All BJP councillors have been asked to stay put at Kisan Bhawan in Panchkula and await the Supreme Court’s verdict on the poll, the leader added.
On January 30, the BJP won the mayoral poll after the presiding officer, Anil Masih, a nominated councillor, scrapped eight votes of the AAP-Congress in a controversial decision, sparking allegations of vote tampering.
Dhalor was tipped to win after the AAP, with 13 members, and the Congress, with seven, joined hands and supported a joint nominee. But Dhalor was defeated by Sonkar after the presiding officer declared eight votes invalid.
Dhalor subsequently moved the high court, which, a day later, refused to grant any relief on the petition. The high court gave three weeks to Masih, Sonkar, the UT administration and the director general of police to file their replies on the plea. It also refused to restrain Sonkar from discharging his functions during the pendency of the dispute in court.
On February 1, the AAP moved the top court against the high court’s decision. In his petition, Dhalor alleged tampering of votes by the presiding officer and sought a fresh poll.
Hearing the matter on February 5, the Supreme Court said it will “not allow democracy to be murdered” and pulled up the presiding officer after the bench perused a video that the judges said made it obvious that the officer “defaced ballot papers”.
Masih will be appearing in person before the Supreme Court on Monday.
