The Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the result of the Chandigarh mayoral poll, citing serious faults in the conduct of the election and declaring defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new city mayor.
The decision came after the BJP candidate emerged as an unlikely winner in the January 30 election. The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, found that the returning officer for the poll, Anil Masih, a BJP leader, committed "misdemeanour" by deliberately defacing eight ballot papers.
During the hearing, Masih admitted to tampering, claiming he marked 'X' on eight ballot papers because they had already been 'defaced'.
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The Supreme Court on Monday said Masih must be prosecuted as he was interfering with the election process which was captured on video. During the hearing, Masih admitted to tampering saying he put 'X' marks on eight ballot papers, because they had already been ‘defaced’.
Here are the Opposition Leaders' Reactions to Chandigarh Mayoral Poll Verdict:
Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister: "Thank you, SC, for saving democracy in these difficult times," Delhi CM posted on X.
In a press conference after the verdict was delivered, Mr Kejriwal stated, "The Supreme Court has delivered a historic verdict in the Chandigarh Mayoral polls case today. We all witnessed how it was clear that 20 votes were of INDIA alliance and 16 votes were of BJP. How eight of the 20 votes were wrongly declared invalid and INDIA alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar was announced defeated.”
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"This is the first and a very big win for the INDIA alliance. We have snatched away this victory from them (BJP). They had stolen this election but we did not concede, we kept on struggling and emerged victorious eventually," Mr Kejriwal said.
Mahua Moitra, TMC Leader: TMC leader Mahua Moitra, who was disqualified and expelled from the Lok Sabha on 8 December 2023 due to her connection with the "Cash for Query" case, took to X and posted a quote of Joseph Stalin with the caption, “BJP Chandigarh style…”
The quote reads: "It’s not who votes that counts. It’s who counts the votes."
Harpal Singh Cheema, AAP Leader: Punjab Minister and AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema told news agency PTI that India is a democratic nation and whosoever has ruled here, has always shown faith in its democratic structure.
“Unfortunately, ever since BJP came to power, they have been destroying the institutions within our country slowly. They even tried to rig the Mayoral election of Chandigarh. We welcome the decision of the Supreme Court,” he said.
Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP Leader: Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj told the media, “Today, the Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the Chandigarh Mayoral Polls. I believe, before all this commotion, very few people knew that there exists a mayor post in Chandigarh. This is a win for democracy. But more than happiness, I am worried about the situation of the country today.”
