BJP defeats AAP-Congress alliance in Chandigarh mayoral polls after eight votes declared invalid

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Manoj Sonkar defeated Kuldeep Tita, a joint candidate fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress, in the Chandigarh mayoral election on Tuesday, The Indian Express reported.

While Sonkar received 16 votes, Tita secured 12 votes. Eight votes were declared invalid, which triggered protests by supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress against the presiding officer Anil Masih.

A ballot can be invalidated for several reasons, including if any identifying marks on it reveal the voter’s identity and compromise the anonymity of the vote.

Sanjeev Jha, Aam Aadmi Party leader and MLA from New Delhi’s Burari Assembly constituency, shared a video on social media, purportedly showing the presiding officer marking some of the ballots with his pen.

ध्यान से देखिए BJP के Presiding officer के हाथ...
Presiding officer खुद पेन चला कर वोटर को invalid करते हुए...
इस तरफ चुनाव जीत रही है BJP... pic.twitter.com/D9GEtjPz8l— Sanjeev Jha (@Sanjeev_aap) January 30, 2024

Congress leader Pawan Bansal alleged that “the eight ballot papers were rejected in a premeditated manner”.

“Congress and AAP agents were not given access to the ballot paper,” he said. “The presiding officer, who I would say is a shallow person, had been given one clear specification that he has to come out only after declaring the BJP candidate as the winner.”

Aam Aadmi Party chief...

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