Author: tind.posting

Late last night, one day before the Supreme Court hearing regarding the claimed tampering in the mayoral election, BJP leader Manoj Sonkar announced his resignation as mayor of Chandigarh. Less than a month ago, on January 30, he defeated AAP’s candidate, Kuldeep Kumar in what was considered to be crucial election contest against the INDIA bloc.

Kuldeep Singh, the joint candidate of the Congress and AAP, managed to garner 12 votes, while the BJP managed to secure 16 votes. Eight votes that sparked a heated dispute between the opposition and the BJP were ruled void.

Troubles arise for AAP

Three AAP council members, Poonam Devi, Neha, and Gurcharan Kala, joined BJP yesterday, so the party’s problems are far from over. After today’s additions, the BJP now has 17 council members out of the 35 members of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, up from its original 14 seats.

BJP also has the backing of one council member from the Shiromani Akali Dal, and Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher of the BJP is an ex-officio member with voting rights, bringing the BJP to the crucial 19 seats

With ten council members, the AAP currently leads its ally, Congress, with seven.

Ballot altering and the evidence

Chaos erupted in the House shortly after the results were announced on January 30, with Congress and AAP council members accusing the BJP of electoral malpractice and cheating. They further claimed that in a video they later sent to the Supreme Court, presiding officer Anil Masih was seen “tampering” with voting papers. The BJP denied the allegation.

The Supreme Court had instructed both the ballots as well as the video of the election proceedings to be preserved after being horrified over the alleged altering of ballot papers and declaring that it was equal to a mockery of democracy. “Is this the conduct of an officer who is returning?” After watching a video of the ballot being counted, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated, “He is looking at the camera, and alters the ballot.”

Masih was the assigned council member, and the court has demanded that he appear on February 19. “Tight slap” for the BJP, is how the AAP and Congress defined the court’s observations. Following the presiding officer’s illness, the Chandigarh administration postponed the mayoral poll, which was initially slated for January 18 and was changed to February 6.

On January 24, the administration was instructed by the High Court to schedule the mayoral elections for January 30 at 10:00 a.m. The court referred to the election postponement order as “unreasonable, unjustified, and arbitrary” when it dismissed it.

Initially, the AAP had petitioned the Punjab and Haryana High Court for new elections overseen by a retired judge, but the court had denied them any temporary respite. Following his defeat in the Chandigarh mayoral election, Kuldeep Kumar challenged the High Court’s ruling in the Supreme Court.

.

As the time nears General Elections 2024, the INDIA alliance seems breaking apart. After Nitish resigned from INDIA Kejriwal gave no seats to the Congress in Delhi. Now Akhilesh has taken a new step that might shake the alliance between Congress and Samajwadi party in the upcoming elections.

In a recent official statement, Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav has offered Congress with 17 seats for contesting an election in Uttar Pradesh. This means the Samajwadi Party or any member of INDIA alliance will not be running their candidate from the particular seat and will assist Congress in defeating NDA from the allotted seats.

Will join Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if our proposal is accepted

This is our final offer, according to SP sources. Akhilesh Yadav will accompany Rahul Gandhi on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra if Congress approves of this. “We have made a final offer of 17 Lok Sabha seats to Congress,” stated Rajendra Chaudhary, chief spokesperson for the SP. Congress’s willingness to accept this offer will determine Akhilesh Yadav’s involvement in the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Rae Bareli.

The identities of the seats that are offered to Congress will be discoled on Monday. On Monday, the Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra will arrive in Rae Bareli after passing through Amethi. Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Rae Bareli is something the SP chief had previously declared he would participate in.

In an announcement released last night in Amethi, Congress announced that its president, Mallikarjun Kharge, would be in the city for the yatra. Previously, the state unit of the Congress party demanded more seats.

From 15 to 17 came the final offer of Samajwadi Party

Before this, Ajay Rai, the president of the State Congress, had stated that his party should be awarded roughly twenty seats, which it won during the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The last time around, Congress had taken Rae Bareli, the only seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats in the Lok Sabha. Although Akhilesh Yadav’s schedule was set, he stated on Monday that we would not embark on the yatra until the seats were assigned to them. He had previously proposed 15 seats, but after Congress rejected his offer, the number was raised to 17.

Akhilesh Yadav already named 27 candidates, even before the Congress and themselves could agree on seats. Eleven more candidates have been declared by him after he first made public the list of 16 candidates. Afzal Ansari from the Ghazipur seat is one of them.

In addition, Akhilesh Yadav has announced candidates for seats in Chandauli, Gonda, Amla, Hardoi, and Bahraich. However, SP hasn’t made a decision about the Congress-dominated seats as of yet.