Chandigarh Mayoral polls: Saffron party tastes defeat after 8 years

Sandeep Rana

Chandigarh, February 20

Supreme Court’s verdict today brought a major embarrassment to the ruling BJP, as it is the first mayoral poll defeat for the saffron party after ruling the Municipal Corporation for eight consecutive years.

It is also the first major win of the INDIA bloc, under which AAP and the Congress joined hands to defeat the BJP in the mayoral polls. In a major blow to the BJP, its plan for a repoll to the post of mayor fell flat after the SC order today.

On the eve of the Supreme Court’s hearing, the BJP had got Mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned after three AAP councillors joined the saffron party. It was hoping that even in the worst case scenario, a re-election might be ordered by the court and its mayoral candidate will again win as it enjoyed a majority in the MC House post AAP councillors’ switch.

On the contrary, the apex court preferred to check the eight votes, which were marked and declared invalid by presiding officer Anil Masih. All these votes were polled in favour of alliance candidate and AAP councillor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor. The court found these valid, leading to Dhalor’s win.

As Dhalor was announced the winner, AAP and Congress councillors went into the celebration mode, dancing to the tune of dhols and distributing sweets. Later, AAP and Congress councillors held a joint press conference in Sector 39.

Meanwhile, in a statement, former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said, “I express concern over the BJP’s tactics in a relatively small-town election and caution that the nation should take note of such manoeuvres, raising apprehensions about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. .”

BJP chief Jatinder Pal Malhotra did not answer the phone calls made by this correspondent.

HC to decide on Senior Deputy Mayor, Deputy Mayor

• As far as the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor are concerned, the Punjab and Haryana High Court is scheduled to hear the Congress’ plea on February 26.
• “Since the case is separately going on there, the HC will clear the picture. We will argue when the Mayor, who conducts these two polls, is wrongly elected, how can the BJP’s victory on these two posts be valid?” said Congress chief Lucky.
• The Congress had fought two posts while the Mayor’s post was left for AAP under the alliance. Councillors of the two parties had boycotted the elections to the two posts in protest against the tampering of votes in the Mayor’s election.

SC saved democracy

Today, the SC has saved the democracy from being murdered. Not only in Chandigarh or at the national level but also at the international level, people are watching what the BJP is doing. — Dr SS Ahluwalia, city AAP co-in charge

A historic verdict

During the BJP’s tenure in the MC, people were a harried lot as their works were not getting done. Even Swachhata ranking of the city is falling. Truth has ultimately prevailed. It is a historic verdict. — HS Lucky, City Congress president