The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday, 31 January, declined to stay the election result of the Chandigarh mayoral election that had been challenged by Congress-Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar.
However, the High Court has reportedly sought a response from the Chandigarh UT administration and the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh to AAP councillor Kumar's plea within three weeks.
The matter was heard by a division bench comprising Justices Sudhir Singh and Harsh Bunger according to LiveLaw.
The results of the elections were announced on Tuesday, 30 January, in favour of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar – who secured 16 votes – while Congress-AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar got 12 votes.
However, the Congress and AAP alleged that the Chandigarh mayoral elections were rigged since eight votes were declared invalid – paving the way for the BJP candidate to win the race.
'Complete Fraud & Forgery': Kumar's High Court Petition
On Tuesday, Congress-AAP candidate Kumar moved the High Court to challenge the results of the mayoral elections, stating that it was a "result of complete fraud and forgery laid upon the democratic process by the respondents and especially Manoj Kumar Sonkar (the newly elected BJP Mayor) and the Presiding Officer Anil Masih."
The petitioner has sought directions from the High Court for elections to be held afresh, according to a report by The Indian Express.
"Fresh elections should be held under the supervision of a Retired High Court Judge, a thorough investigation of today’s election process be carried out by an independent investigation agency headed by SSP (Chandigarh), entire process of today’s election including the ballot papers and videographic evidence be sealed and the newly elected Mayor be restrained from discharging the functions of Mayor as the entire process of election is vitiated by fraud."Petitioner as quoted in The Indian Express
All eyes have been on the Chandigarh mayoral polls because it is the first significant electoral battle between the BJP and the Opposition's INDIA bloc, ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
'Couldn't Digest Their Defeat': Newly Elected BJP Mayor
"Levelling allegations is their (AAP-Congress) job. Wherever they don't have their way, they level allegations," Manoj Sonkar, the newly elected Chandigarh mayor from the BJP, told news agency ANI.
"Everything is on camera. But when they couldn't digest their defeat, they created this atmosphere and started blaming us," he added.
A total of 36 votes were polled in the mayoral elections in Chandigarh. While the AAP and Congress together had 20 votes, the BJP had 16 votes, including one from the ex-officio member Kher.
In purported videos which surfaced online after the polling, Presiding Officer Anil Masih was seen leaving the House with rejected votes without allegedly showing them to the councillor agent. Masih was reportedly chosen as the head of the BJP's minority wing in the Union Territory in 2018.
In 2022, Masih was reportedly nominated as a councillor to the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation House.
He was appointed as a presiding officer for the Chandigarh mayoral election, which was supposed to be conducted on 18 January but was postponed after Masih reportedly fell ill.
Refuting allegations that the votes were tampered with, Masih told ANI, “A total of 36 votes were cast. When we were issuing the ballot papers, a few AAP and Congress Councillors were concerned that the papers had spots and marks – so, they asked me to change around 11 ballot papers.”
“I honoured their request and kept the ballot papers in question on the side and issued them fresh ballot papers," he added.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)