Punjab and Haryana HC seek response from Chandigarh government on mayoral poll
The Congress-AAP candidate of the INDIA alliance lost the seat despite having the maximum number of councilors.
High Court of Punjab and Haryana: Following a petition alleging fraud in the election for the mayoral post held on Tuesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday sought response from the Chandigarh government and the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, although no interim order has been issued on a suspension of the results. of the election.
A division bench of Justice Sudhir Singh and Justice Harsh Bunger asked the respondents to file a reply within three weeks.
The decision was challenged by AAP and Congress Party joint candidate Kuldeep Kumar, who accused the presiding officer of resorting to fraud and forgery during the counting process.
In a major setback for the Congress-AAP alliance of the INDIA bloc, the Municipal Corporation ruling BJP retained the mayoral seat for the ninth time in a row on Tuesday by winning the post by just four votes.
The Congress-AAP candidate of the INDIA alliance lost the seat despite having the maximum number of councilors as eight of the 36 votes were declared invalid by presiding authority Anil Masih, a nominated councillor, without voting rights.
The BJP got 16 votes while the AAP-Congress alliance had 12 votes despite having 20 councilors after which AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Kumar prayed for fresh elections in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
In the petition, he alleged, in complete departure from practice and rules, the Speaker refused to allow party nominees to supervise the counting of votes.
“The Speaker told the House in the lamest manner that he does not want any help from the members nominated by the parties contesting the elections and that he will count the votes himself. Voices were raised by the Aam Admi Party and Congress, but their demands went unheeded. But surprisingly, the Deputy Commissioner and the prescribed authority, who also sat in the same capacity during the elections last year, remained silent,” the petition said.
In the mayoral elections, BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar with 16 votes defeated AAP's Kuldeep Kumar with 12 votes while eight votes were declared invalid.
After the results were announced, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called the series of events a “black day for democracy”.
Addressing a press conference, the AAP national president said, “The AAP-Congress alliance had a clear majority and it was a direct election. Eight votes or 25 percent of the total votes were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The result of the mayoral survey shows that something is wrong and on a large scale they can score in any measure in the national polls.”
(With IANS inputs)