Rahul Gandhi on Chandigarh mayor polls row: ‘Beyond imagination what BJP will do to…’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Jananta Party over the contentious Chandigarh mayoral election results as he drew a parallel between Tuesday's events and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse on this day 76 years back.

Rahul Gandhi, who is currently leading his party's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bihar, accused the BJP of subverting the democracy in the mayoral elections and said it was beyond imagination what the saffron party will do to remain in power at the Centre.

In a post on X, Gandhi wondered, “It is beyond imagination what the BJP, which can kill democracy in front of the whole world in the mayoral elections, will do to remain in power in Delhi.”

“Years ago, on this day, Godse had assassinated Gandhiji and today Godsewadis sacrificed his ideals and constitutional values,” he added.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, "That the BJP chose January 30 to kill democracy in Chandigarh does not come as a surprise."

Read: High drama as AAP alleges vote tampering in Chandigarh mayoral polls, cites video

A major controversy erupted after the presiding officer of the mayoral polls in Chandigarh declared eight votes invalid. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar (16 votes) defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar (12 votes).

The councillors associated with the Congress and AAP, who fought the election as part of an alliance, alleged foul play by pointing to footage from the Assembly Hall in which the presiding officer was purportedly seen marking some of the ballots.

The ballots may be declared invalid for several reasons, including identifying marks on the ballot paper that could reveal voters' identity.

Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal called the series of events during the election a "black day for democracy".

Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Kejriwal said the entire country saw what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

"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 mayor but the country should not lose and the democracy should not lose. Mayors come and go, parties come and go," he said.

Accusing the BJP of indulging in "hooliganism" in full public view, Kejriwal said if people do not stop it together 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 votes were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The mayoral poll result shows there is something wrong and at a large scale, they can go to any extent in national polls," he alleged.

The polls, originally scheduled for January 18, were deferred to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer, who is at the centre of the controversy, apparently fell ill.

The administration’s order to defer the elections was challenged by Kuldeep Dhalor, the AAP’s candidate for the post of mayor, in the high court. In its January 24 order, the high court directed the Chandigarh administration to hold the mayoral polls at 10am on January 30. It also quashed the administration’s January 18 order postponing the elections holding it “unreasonable, unjustified and arbitrary”.