Chandigarh mayor drama: Invalid votes, and a BJP win

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday won the Chandigarh mayoral poll after the chair scrapped eight Opposition's votes in a controversial decision, sparking allegations of vote tampering that marred the first electoral showdown between the ruling party and the 27-party Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

- Mandeep Kaur Narula

BJP wins Chandigarh mayor's polls amid rigging allegations

CHANDIGARH: In a House of 35, the INDIA bloc candidate Kuldeep Dhalor was tipped to win after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), with 13 members, and the Congress, with 7, joined hands and supported a joint nominee. But he was defeated by the BJP's Manoj Sonkar after the nominated councillor officiating the election, BJP office bearer Anil Masih, declared eight votes invalid.

No official reason was given for the decision during the announcement of the results. Masih, later in the evening said that ballot papers had some pen marks.

Visuals from the chamber showed Masih making some marks on the ballot papers and a scuffle breaking out as Opposition members alleged he had intentionally invalidated the votes.

Sonkar eventually received 16 votes-the BJP has 15 members in the municipal corporation and an additional one from local MP Kirron Kher. Dhalor won only 12.

"That the INDI Alliance fought their first electoral battle and still lost to BJP shows that neither their arithmetic is working nor their chemistry," said BJP chief JP Nadda.

But the Opposition alleged that the election was stolen and vowed to go to the cou "Gandhiji was assassinated on this date and after 76 years, they (BJP) have murdered the democracy... The whole country is seeing how they stole votes," AAP chief and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said.