chandigarh-mayoral-polls-squabble-aap-to-protest-outside-bjp-headquarters

In a recent development to the Chandigarh mayoral polls tussle, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday, announced to stage a protest on February 2, outside the headquarters of BJP in Delhi over alleged cheating. The AAP-Congress combine alleged that the presiding officer had tampered with the ballot papers.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will also take part in the protest. The decision to hold the demonstration comes on the same day Kejriwal was issued a fresh summons by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for questioning in connection with a Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.

On Tuesday, in a setback to the Congress and the AAP - both partners in the opposition INDIA bloc, the BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

Councillors of the two INDIA bloc parties created a ruckus in the House after the result for the mayor's post was declared. The two parties boycotted the next phase of elections for the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.

BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor's post, polling 16 votes against 12. Eight votes were declared invalid.

BJP nominees Kuljit Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared elected to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively. The opposition councillors alleged ballot paper tampering during the elections, a charge rubbished by the BJP.