Chandigarh mayoral polls: Arvind Kejriwal calls it ‘cheating in broad daylight,’ says worried for Lok Sabha | 10 points

The Chandigarh mayoral polls witnessed high-voltage drama on Tuesday after the BJP defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, who were contesting the polls as part of the INDIA bloc. The AAP claimed that the presiding officer wrongly declared eight votes of Congress and AAP councilors invalid which cleared the way for BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it “cheating in broad daylight," and a black day for the democracy of India. The national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that if the BJP can “stoop so low" to win a then it can go to any extent to win the Lok Sabha elections.

"This time under INDIA Alliance, Congress and AAP came together... Their (BJP) intention had been maligned since the beginning... They tried to buy ours and Congress' councillors. They tried to scare them like they do all over the country... But fortunately, not even one councillor broke down..." the Delhi Chief Minister said. 

1. The were conducted on Tuesday after the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which rapped the administration for delaying the elections earlier scheduled for 18 January.

2. In the 35-member corporation, the combined voting strength of the AAP and the Congress was 20, whereas the BJP held 15 votes, comprising 14 from councilors and one from MP Kirron Kher.

3. The voting started around 11:00 PM at the Assembly Hall of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation

4. After the counting, the declared BJP's Manoj Sonkar as the winner with 16 votes and 8 votes of AAP and Congress councilors were not counted. 

5. The AAP launched a scathing attack on the BJP after the defeat and called it ‘cheating in broad daylight.’ "The manner in which cheating has been done in broad daylight