In a setback for the Aam Aadmi Party and Congress alliance in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, 3 AAP councillors joined the BJP the day gone by beforehand of the important listening to in Supreme Court today. Not effective this, Chandigarh Mayor Manoj Sonkar additionally resigned from the put paving the way for the sparkling mayoral polls.
The AAP and Congress had approached the apex court, and difficult for the presiding officer choose to claim Sonkar because the prevailing candidate after 8 competition ballots were rejected. The 3 councilors are Gurcharanjit Singh Kala, Neha, and Poonum Devi. All the 3 leaders accused AAP of making false promises and said that they joined the saffron party as they were inspired with the aid of the works of PM Narendra Modi.
BJP-SAD vs AAP-Congress
In the residence of 35 participants, the BJP has a total of 15 votes within the Municipal Corporation House, which includes 14 councilors and ex officio members, i.E. An MP – Kiron Kher. The AAP has 13 councilors, even as the Congress has 7. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councilor in the House.
The AAP and Congress collectively had 20 votes, but since the 8 votes were declared invalid for the duration of the 30 January polls, the BJP’s mayoral candidate, Sonkar, came out as a winner. AAP-Congress alleged foul play via the presiding officer and moved to the SC after it got no remedy from the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Now, with the 3 AAP councillors jumping ship, the BJP is having 19 votes with the assist of Shiromani Akali Dal even as the AAP-Congress alliance can have 17 votes.
Hearing In Supreme Court Today
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud-led bench, inclusive of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, had located on 5 February that Masih had to be prosecuted for defacing the ballot papers.
The Supreme Court criticized the returning officer who oversaw the mayoral elections in Chandigarh, stating that his movements amounted to a ‘homicide and mockery’ of democracy.
The Supreme Court had also postponed the Chandigarh municipal organization assembly scheduled for 7 February.
The CJI-led bench stated, “We direct that the complete record of the Mayor Chandigarh Municipal Corporation elections be seized with the High Court and the Registrar General and the poll paper, videography also be preserved. Notice is served to the Returning Officer that He will hand over the records.”
Earlier Mayoral Polls
In January 2023 mayoral polls, a total of 29 votes have been solid, leading to Anup Gupta from the BJP securing victory in the mayoral election via defeating Jasbir Singh Laddi from the Aam Aadmi Party with a slender margin of 1 vote. Gupta garnered 15 votes, even as Singh managed to steady 14. Notably, the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal evaded taking part in the voting system. Similarly, in the year 2022, the BJP candidate emerged successful all over again via a slim margin of one vote, as one vote changed into invalidated because of various motives.
Conclusion
BJP leader Manoj Sonkar stepped down because the mayor of Chandigarh on Sunday, even as 3 AAP councilors switched their allegiance to the BJP. The development takes place in mayoral elections.
Sonkar’s resignation was submitted to the municipal commissioner, as confirmed via Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra. Malhotra told PTI that Congress and the AAP do now not have an alliance and are best fooling the public. He added that those parties could be exposed before the general public.
