Congress embraces Supreme Court’s ruling on Chandigarh mayoral elections

The Congress has praised the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the “farcical election” for the mayor’s post in Chandigarh, stating that it has protected democracy from the manipulation by an “autocratic BJP”. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling the returning officer a “pawn” in the BJP’s conspiracy to kill democracy.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal believes that the apex court’s decision will go a long way in saving Indian democracy, especially after the farcical election process was revealed through this historic verdict.

The Supreme Court has ordered a recount of the votes in the controversial Chandigarh mayoral election and the declaration of the result after considering eight defaced ballots declared invalid by the returning officer. The court also ordered the prosecution of returning officer Anil Masih for “misdemeanour”.

The result of the poll, in which the BJP candidate emerged as the winner, has been overturned by the court, and the AAP-Congress alliance candidate has been declared as the new mayor of Chandigarh. The court emphasized that it was dealing with wrong-doings in the counting process and not quashing the entire electoral exercise. The BJP won the poll after the returning officer declared eight votes of the coalition partners invalid, but the court found serious faults in the conduct of the election.

Masih, a BJP leader, has been ordered to be prosecuted for defacing the eight ballot papers, and the court expressed that he made deliberate attempts to do so. The BJP candidate won the poll but later resigned, and three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from PTI)