Chandigarh polls: Kejriwal to lead AAP protest on Feb 2, the day ED summoned him

Kejriwal pinned the AAP-Congress combined loss to “electoral malpractice”, as he accused the BJP of “rigging the ballot”.

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will lead Friday’s protest to be held by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) against the “malpractices” by the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in the counting of votes in the recently concluded Chandigarh mayoral election, AAP officials aware of the development said.

Delhi chief minster Arvind Kejriwal (File Photo)

The BJP on Tuesday won the Chandigarh municipal council election after the chair scrapped a fourth of the Opposition’s votes in a controversial decision, sparking allegations of vote tampering that marred the first electoral showdown between the BJP and the 27-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

In a House of 35, AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Dhalor was tipped to win after the AAP, which has 13 members, and the Congress, which has seven, joined hands and supported a joint nominee. However, he was defeated by BJP’s Manoj Sonkar after the nominated councillor officiating the election, BJP office bearer Anil Masih, declared eight votes invalid. Sonkar won 16 votes.

Kejriwal pinned the AAP-Congress combined loss to “electoral malpractice”, as he accused the BJP of “rigging the ballot” and said the incident set a bad precedent for the country ahead of the general elections.

Attributing BJP candidate Sonkar’s win in Chandigarh mayoral elections to “cheating in broad daylight”, Kejriwal said that 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.

After the results, Congress and AAP councillors walked out of the assembly halls in a show of protest.

Originally scheduled for January 18, the polls were earlier deferred moments before councillors were about to cast their votes, owing to the poor health of the presiding officer.

“The BJP had ill intentions from the beginning. They appointed a party worker as the presiding officer. The election was scheduled for January 18, but the presiding officer suddenly reported sick and the election was indefinitely postponed. We moved the court and got a new date fixed. In the meantime, they intimidated our (AAP-Congress) councillors and tried to poach them,” Kejriwal said.

Party officials said that the protest would be held outside the BJP’s headquarters in New Delhi on February 2, the day the Enforcement Directorate (ED) summoned Kejriwal for questioning in the money laundering probe linked to the Delhi excise case.

The ED on Wednesday issued the 5th summon to Kejriwal, who has skipped the past four summons – on November 2, December 22, and on January 3 and January 18. No fresh reaction was available from the AAP or the CM’s office on the 5th summons.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said by refusing to appear before the ED despite four summons, Kejriwal has made a mockery of the Constitution. “He is trying to escape by making new excuses.”

Leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said Kejriwal should appear before the ED for questioning. “Former Dy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have already been caught in the liquor scam, and they are not even being granted bail by the courts, indicating that corruption allegations are true. Therefore, Kejriwal cannot portray himself as innocent and avoid it by labelling it as a fake case. The public also understands that there is something fishy, so Kejriwal is not participating in the investigation. This time Kejriwal should have the courage to appear before the ED because the ED and the public also want to know who is involved in the liquor scam,” Bidhuri said.