‘Masih just a pawn': Rahul Gandhi on Supreme Court's Chandigarh poll verdict

The Supreme Court set aside the January 30 mayoral poll in Chandigarh and declared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the winner

Published on: Feb 20, 2024, 20:09:15 IST

By HT News Desk

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Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the Supreme Court verdict that overturned Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the Chandigarh mayoral election.

“Masih is just a pawn in the BJP's conspiracy to murder democracy. Modi is the face behind it,” the Congress MP posted on X.

Reacting to the verdict, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said,"The Supreme Court has saved Democracy from the fangs of an autocratic BJP, which resorted to dirty election manipulation. The institutional sabotage in the #ChandigarhMayorPolls is only a tip of the iceberg in Modi-Shah’s devious conspiracy to trample Democracy."

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“All Indians must fight this onslaught on our Constitution, collectively. Never forget. Our Democracy shall be at the crossroads in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections!” the Congress chief posted on X.

Gandhi's attack comes after the top court set aside the January 30 mayoral poll in Chandigarh and declared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the winner. Congress and AAP had contested the elections in an alliance.

“We order and direct that the election result, as declared by the presiding officer Anil Masih, will stand set aside and the petitioner (Kuldeep Kumar) will be declared elected as the Mayor of the Chandigarh municipal corporation,” the apex court bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said.

The top court also ordered prosecution of the returning officer for the poll, Anil Masih, after finding serious faults in the conduct of the January 30 election. The bench said it was evident that Masih made deliberate attempt to deface eight ballot papers.

BJP's Manoj Sonkar had won the mayoral poll defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the returning officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.

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