Congress Moves Punjab & Haryana HC Challenging Chandigarh Mayoral Elections

The Congress has filed a petition in the Punjab-Haryana High Court challenging the Chandigarh mayoral elections.

Advocate Karanbir Singh stated, “We have submitted a writ petition as a continuation of previous petitions. We have challenged the election process for the mayor, deputy mayor, and senior deputy mayor.”

Expressing concern over the invalidation of eight votes, the advocate emphasized, “The presiding officer failed to disclose crucial information. As a result, the mayor’s election is deemed illegal. Subsequent elections are therefore also invalid. We demand a fresh election.”

Singh informed that the hearing on the case is scheduled for February 9, 2024

Another advocate, Manjot Gujral, expressed confidence in the legal process, stating, “The matter moved to the Supreme Court concerns the mayoral elections. The petition filed in the Punjab-Haryana court relates to the senior mayor and deputy mayor polls.”

Gujral highlighted the significance of recently released video evidence, stating, “The footage has exposed flaws in the election process. We trust the Supreme Court’s judgment, which acknowledged the presiding officer’s actions. We believe the elections for mayor, deputy mayor, and senior deputy mayor will be rerun.”

On Tuesday, following the Supreme Court’s criticism of the municipal poll officer for “defacing” the ballot paper in the Chandigarh Mayor polls, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) presented CCTV footage on Monday, claiming that the BJP Presiding officer openly destroyed and invalidated votes.

The AAP shared the CCTV footage as ‘proof’ of ballot paper tampering by the civic poll officer. In a post on X, they wrote, “Now accept it, BJP. What can be a greater proof than this? See how the Presiding Officer of the BJP openly destroyed the flag of democracy by cancelling the votes himself. This is a living proof of BJP’s dictatorship.”