Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday thanked the Supreme Court for its decision in the Chandigarh mayoral polls case. The top court said it would direct recounting of votes polled in the controversial elections and declaration of result after considering the eight "defaced" ballots that were declared invalid by the returning officer.
"Thank you SC for saving democracy in these difficult times," Kejriwal said in a post on X.
Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal added, "I think this has happened for the first time in India's history. We thank the Supreme Court. The situation in the country is such that a dictatorship is going on. Democracy is being trampled. All institutions are being trampled. At such a time, this decision of the Supreme Court holds a lot of significance for democracy. This is the major victory of the I.N.D.I.A bloc- the first and massive. We have snatched away victory from them. They had stolen the election, the votes. But we fought till the end and ultimately won. Those who say that BJP can't be defeated- BJP can be defeated with unity, with good planning and strategy and hard work. These results prove the same."
The BJP won the Chandigarh mayoral polls on January 30 defeating the comfortably placed AAP-Congress alliance candidate after the returning officer declared as invalid eight votes of the coalition partners, drawing accusations of tampering with ballots.
Manoj Sonkar of the BJP defeated Kuldeep Kumar after polling 16 votes against his rival's 12 to bag the mayor's post. Sonkar, however, resigned subsequently, while three AAP councillors defected to the BJP.
