‘Fraud in broad daylight’: Kejriwal on BJP winning Chandigarh mayoral polls

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday alleged that the BJP indulged in "hooliganism" during the Chandigarh mayoral polls, calling the series of events during the elections a "black day for democracy".

The BJP won the Chandigarh mayoral elections by committing "fraud in broad daylight", he said at a press conference in the national capital.

"Seventy-six years ago on January 30, Mahatma Gandhi -- the preacher of non-violence -- was assassinated and, on the same day, the BJP has murdered democracy," he alleged.

The AAP national convenor's reaction came after the BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, winning all three posts of mayor, senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor by defeating the Congress-AAP alliance.

Lashing out at the BJP, Kejriwal claimed the saffron party will not give up power even if it loses the Lok Sabha polls.

"They will stick to power like (former US president) Donald Trump, even if it led to martial law imposition in the country," Kejriwal said.

The former US president has been accused of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy to remain in power despite losing the November 2020 presidential polls in that country.

Posting a video on X, Kejriwal wrote, "Complete video of vote tampering in Chandigarh mayoral polls. They got caught red-handed today and this video surfaced. Who knows how many frauds they did in the polls in the country so far and won by cheating." The Delhi chief minister said the entire country witnessed what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral polls as it was captured on camera.

"It is a black day for democracy. Everyone saw how they stole votes and forcibly made their candidate win. The issue is not who becomes the mayor but the country should not lose and democracy should not lose. Mayors come and go, parties come and go," he added.

In the mayoral polls, BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar (16 votes) defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar (12 votes). Eight votes were declared invalid.

BJP nominees Kuljit Sandhu and Rajinder Sharma were declared elected to the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor, respectively. The AAP and the Congress boycotted the elections to these two posts.

Accusing the BJP of indulging in "hooliganism" in full public view, Kejriwal said if people do not together stop this practice, it will be extremely "dangerous" for the nation.

"The AAP-Congress alliance had a clear majority and it was a straight election. Eight votes or 25 per cent of the total were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The mayoral polls result show there is something wrong and, on a large scale, they (BJP) can go to any extent in national polls," he alleged.

The Delhi chief minister alleged that the presiding officer for the polls "deliberately rendered invalid" eight votes of the AAP-Congress combine by putting tick marks and claimed that the act was captured on camera.

He said the BJP's intentions were bad from the beginning and a party office-bearer was made the presiding officer for the polls when the elections were announced.

"If the BJP can invalidate 25 per cent votes in a mayoral poll, they can go to any extent in the Lok Sabha elections," he alleged.

Kejriwal said if people do not come together and stop this "hooliganism", then it is going to prove very dangerous for the country in the future. PTI