BJP leader Manoj Sonkar resigned as Chandigarh mayor this evening, a day ahead of the Supreme Court hearing in the alleged tampering in the mayoral election. He won the poll – seen as the first election battle against the INDIA bloc by defeating the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Kuldeep Kumar – on January 30.
BJP secured 16 votes and Kuldeep Singh, the joint candidate of the Congress and AAP was able to manage 12 votes. 8 votes – that became a flashpoint between the BJP and AAP – were declared invalid.
Soon after the results were declared, chaos broke out in the House with Congress and AAP councillors accusing the BJP of cheating and not following the due electoral process. They also alleged that presiding officer Anil Masih being caught “tampering” with ballot papers in a video that they later submitted to the Supreme Court. The charge was rubbished by the BJP.
Appalled by the alleged defacing of ballot papers, the Supreme Court had said it amounted to a mockery of democracy and ordered that the ballots and the video of the electoral proceedings be preserved.
“Is this the behaviour of a returning officer? He looks at the camera, and defaces the ballot obviously,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said after viewing a video of the counting.
Source link: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/chandigarh-mayor-manoj-sonkar-resigns-day-ahead-of-supreme-court-hearing-over-poll-controversy-5082930