Chicago – February 22, 2024
The AAP and the Congress campaigned together in the Chandigarh municipal elections, alleging that the returning officer improperly deemed their eight votes invalid and declared Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Manoj Sonkar the winner. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal described it as “cheating in broad daylight” and chastised the BJP for descending so low in a mayoral election.
During the resumed hearing in the Supreme Court over last month’s Chandigarh mayoral election, the election’s presiding officer, Anil Masih, admitted adding a mark on eight cast ballots that he later declared invalid, which paved the way for the victory of the now-resigned BJP mayor, Manoj Sonkar.
However, he rationalized his actions by stating that he only marked ‘X’ on ballots previously damaged by councilors during the voting process.
Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud responded, “You [Masih] were just required to sign the ballot papers. Where does it say in the rules that you can make different markings on the ballot papers?” Later, the Chief Justice of India ruled that Anil Masih tried to influence the election results so he would be prosecuted.
On Tuesday (February 20), the CJI bench analyzed the ballots. It directed that the ballot papers be held in the custody of the registrar general of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. All security preparations must be implemented to ensure the safe transit and custody of the judicial official chosen by the registrar general.
