AAP Approaches SC Challenging High Court Refusal to Stay Chandigarh Mayor Election

After the Punjab-Haryana High Court refused to stay the election of Chandigarh Mayor, Aam Aadmi Party councilor Kuldeep Kumar on Thursday filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, January 30, BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar won the post of Mayor in Chandigarh by defeating common man candidate Kuldeep Kumar. Aam Aadmi Party alleged rigging in the mayor elections. The Aam Aadmi Party said that the presiding judge wrongly declared eight votes of the Aam Aadmi Party and the alliance invalid and declared the BJP candidate as the winner. In the Chandigarh Mayor election, BJP had 16 votes and the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance had 20 votes.
Eight votes of Aam Aadmi Party were declared invalid by the presiding officer.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and mayor election in-charge Gaurav Chadha, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had said that they will approach the court against the BJP’s intransigence.
Aam Aadmi Party also filed a petition in the Punjab Haryana High Court on Wednesday, January 31, but the High Court refused to immediately stay the election of the Chandigarh Mayor. However, the Punjab Haryana High Court did seek a response from the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and the UT administration, and ordered the matter to be listed after three weeks.
Aam Admi councilor Kuldeep Kumar has demanded the Supreme Court to cancel the alleged disputed mayor election results. He has alleged that the Chandigarh Mayor election is the result of complete fraud and falsification on the democratic process. He has prayed for fresh elections to be conducted in a free and fair manner under the supervision of a retired High Court judge.