Tuesday’s Chandigarh mayoral polls saw the BJP accused of engaging in “hooliganism,” according to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who also referred to the day’s events as a “black day for democracy.”
His response followed the BJP’s resounding victory over the Congress-AAP alliance in Chandigarh’s mayoral elections, wherein it won all three positions, including mayor.
The AAP national convener said at a press conference that the results of the Chandigarh mayoral polls were witnessed by the entire nation.
“It is a black day for democracy. Everyone saw how they stole votes and forcibly made their candidate win. The issue is not who becomes mayor but the country should not lose and the democracy should not lose. Mayors come and go, parties come and go,” he said.
Also read: Chandigarh Mayor Elections: BJP’s Defeats INDIA Bloc Alliance, JP Nadda Gloats
Manoj Sonkar, a BJP candidate, received 16 votes, while Kuldeep Kumar, an AAP candidate, received 12 votes. There were eight invalid votes.
As soon as the results were revealed, Chandigarh’s council members from the AAP and Congress, two of the INDIA bloc parties, protested.
Kejriwal claimed that if people do not put an end to the BJP’s “hooliganism” in public, it will be very “dangerous” for the country.
“The AAP-Congress alliance had a clear majority and it was a straight election. Eight votes or 25 percent of the total votes were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The mayoral poll result shows there is something wrong and at a large scale, they can go to any extent in national polls,” he alleged.
Kejriwal said that the opposition leaders are being targeted by the BJP-led Centre, which is “resorting” to drastic measures to destroy parties and overthrow governments.
Also read: Chandigarh Mayor Elections: BJP’s Defeats INDIA Bloc Alliance, JP Nadda Gloats
“This means that they are not getting a majority in Lok Sabha polls. The INDIA bloc is strong. If the Chandigarh mayor elections were conducted honestly, the INDIA bloc would have registered its first win today,” he said.
(Source: PTI)
