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BJP defeats INDIA bloc in Chandigarh mayoral polls; Arvind Kejriwal claims ‘cheating in broad daylight'
BJP chief JP Nadda lauded the Punjab unit of the party for the victory. He also questioned the ‘chemistry’ of the INDIA bloc.
New Delhi: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday attributed BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar's win in the Chandigarh mayoral elections to "cheating in broad daylight". In his first reaction to the development, he said if the BJP could "stoop so low" in mayoral elections, it can go to any extent to win the Lok Sabha elections.
"The manner in which cheating has been done in broad daylight in the Chandigarh Mayor elections, is extremely worrying. If these people can stoop so low in a mayor's election, then they can go to any extent in the country's elections. This is very worrying," Kejriwal wrote on X in Hindi.
BJP's Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday defeated AAP's Kuldeep Kumar in the mayoral elections in Chandigarh.
The AAP had contested the election in alliance with the Congress. Together, the AAP-Congress alliance had more votes in the 35-strong assembly than the BJP.
The Chandigarh mayoral elections were originally scheduled on January 18. However, they were indefinitely postponed due to the illness of the presiding officer.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered that the election must be held on January 30.
BJP chief JP Nadda lauded the Punjab unit of the party for the victory.
"Congratulations to BJP Chandigarh Unit for winning the Mayor election. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UTs have witnessed record development. That the INDI Alliance fought their first electoral battle and still lost to BJP shows that neither their arithmetic is working nor their chemistry," he wrote on X.
What happened in Chandigarh mayoral elections?
Manoj Sonkar polled 16 votes while Kumar secured 12. Eight votes were declared invalid.
The councillors of INDIA bloc parties AAP and Congress launched a protest as soon as the results were declared.
Now the newly elected mayor will hold the elections for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The Congress has fielded its candidates for these two posts.
The BJP has 14 councillors in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. The AAP has 13 councillors and the Congress seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.
With inputs from PTI
