It's been a fortnight since the Chandigarh mayoral election shocked the nation over the manner in which it was conducted. What would have otherwise been a routine democratic exercise turned into a national debate and an instance of the new-lows that political outfits can touch in pursuit of power. Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the infamous Chandigarh Mayor elections, BJP's mayor Manoj Sonkar resigned from his post late on February 18.
A week ago, the Apex Court made scathing remarks against the presiding officer caught red-handed on CCTV cameras rigging Chandigarh mayoral polls in favour of Sonkar. Reportedly, the BJP asked Sonkar to resign as the Supreme Court was scheduled to resume hearing in the matter on February 19.
In its last hearing, the SC had called the mayoral elections, "a murder of democracy." On February 19, the court summoned the presiding officer Anil Masih, to explain himself as to why he had conducted the election in such a manner and defaced the already cast legible ballots and later declared them invalid in favor of Sonkar.
What the Supreme Court said:
As the Supreme Court began hearing the plea late in the afternoon, it said it would peruse the ballot papers and the entire video recording of the counting of votes at 2 pm on Tuesday. Returning officer Anil Masih appeared before the court and admitted to putting X marks on eight defaced ballot papers, making the Apex Court observe that he must be prosecuted, "for interfering with the election process."
The Supreme Court asked the HC registrar to appoint a deputy judicial officer and ensure ballot papers and videos were brought for its perusal on Tuesday. Meanwhile, it also asked the administration to provide security to the judicial officer to ensure the safety of the officer and his records.
When mayoral elections shocked the nation
Last month, CCTV footage wherein presiding officer Anil Masih was captured scribbling on the votes to declare them invalid, went viral on social media, inviting outrage and sarcasm about the conduct of mayoral elections in Chandigarh to favor the BJP. As a result, while short of a simple majority in Chandigarh's 35-member MC elections, the BJP won by a meager 4 votes after the rigging; as 8 votes were declared invalid.
Reportedly, BJP still hasn't given in on the seat of a mayor in Chandigarh in the face of imminent reelections. As many as three AAP councilors, earlier fighting BJP in a tense battle and who had even petitioned the Supreme Court in the matter, have now crossed over and joined BJP.
Those who joined the BJP in the presence of Chandigarh BJP President Arun Sood are Gurcharan Singh Kala, Neha and Poonam. AAP Chandigarh leader Prem Garg called their joining the BJP "unfortunate."
"It is unfortunate that these three councillors ditched the party at this juncture. It is also ironic that BJP has launched Operation Lotus even for a city's civic body election. First by rigging polls and now by poaching our councillors, they've proven that they stoop to any low to seize power," The Wire quoted him as saying.
