THE NEWS FREEDOM
CHANDIGARH, FEBRUARY 18
BJP leader Manoj Sonkar resigned from his position as Chandigarh mayor this evening, ahead of the scheduled Supreme Court hearing on alleged tampering in the mayoral election. Besides it, three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councilors- Poonam Devi, Neha and Gurcharan Kala switched allegiance to the BJP in New Delhi. Chandigarh BJP leader Arun Sood confirmed this development while speaking to the media.
In the closely watched Chandigarh mayoral election held on January 30, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar emerged victorious, securing 16 votes against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Kuldeep Kumar’s 12. However, the contest was marred by drama as eight ballots were deemed invalid, prompting protests from AAP and Congress councillors.
On February 5, the Supreme Court strongly criticized the Chandigarh mayoral election, labeling it a “mockery of democracy.” The court ordered the surrender of all original records, including video footage, to the registrar of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The directive came in response to concerns raised by AAP regarding potential vote tampering, especially after eight votes cast for their candidate were invalidated.