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SC declares AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar the rightful Chandigarh mayor; Kejriwal hails the verdict, calls it first victory of INDIA bloc
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In a big blow to Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), the Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress combined candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the rightful winner of the Mayor’s post in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, after scrapping the controversial counting that announced BJP candidate Manoj Sankar as the winner.
This came a day after the Supreme Court in an open court pulled up the presiding officer Anil Mishra on Monday for defacing the eight ballot papers during the counting process, dismissing what he had later announced as the BJP candidate Manoj Sankar the winner. Mishra had admitted before the bench of scribbling on the ballot paper.
A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud went through the ballot papers on Tuesday and said the eight ballots on which the presiding officer Anil Masih had made a marking were validly cast in favour of Kumar. AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar had approached the apex court against the outcome of the January 30 poll. SC has initiated criminal proceedings against Mishra for “deliberately meddling with the electoral process”.
“This Court is duty bound to ensure that the democratic process is not set at naught by such subterfuges. We are therefore of the view that the Court must step in such exceptional circumstances to ensure that the basic democratic mandate is ensured”, the bench observed.
Welcoming the order AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, thanked the Supreme Court. “We thank the Supreme Court...dictatorship is going on in the country...democracy is being trampled upon, all institutions are being trampled upon. In such times, this ruling by the SC is very important for democracy and to save democracy. It's a very important decision,” said Kejriwal in a press conference after the apex court order where he also termed the victory as the first significant victory of INDIA alliance bloc. “We have snatched this victory from BJP. They had stolen the election, the votes but we didn't accept defeat. We fought till the end and finally we won,” he added.
