Chandigarh Mayor Manoj Sonkar Resigns, 3 AAP Councillors Join BJP Ahead of SC Hearing on Poll Irregularities

 Manoj Sonkar, a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), resigned from his position as Mayor of Chandigarh on Sunday. This announcement coincided with the defection of three councillors from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the BJP, just a day before the Supreme Court is set to address allegations of irregularities in the recent mayoral elections. Sonkar has submitted his resignation to the municipal commissioner, said Chandigarh BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra.

Malhotra, speaking to PTI, criticized the Congress and the AAP, stating that they lack any alliance and are merely deceiving the public. He asserted that their true intentions would soon be exposed to the public.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Arun Sood announced that AAP councillors Neha, Poonam, and Gurcharan Kala have officially joined the BJP in a ceremony attended by senior party leader Vinod Tawde. Sood was also in attendance as the three councillors switched their allegiance to the BJP. With the defection of these three AAP councillors, the political balance is likely to shift in favor of the BJP in any upcoming mayoral elections.

Before their transition, the BJP held 14 seats in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, while the AAP controlled 13. Additionally, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, affiliated with the BJP, holds voting rights as an ex-officio member of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. The Congress has seven councillors and the Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor. The BJP had swept the January 30 Chandigarh mayoral polls, in a setback to the Congress-AAP alliance that alleged tampering with ballot papers by the presiding officer. Sonkar had defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar for the mayor's post, polling 16 votes against his rival's 12. Eight votes were declared invalid.

On February 5, the Supreme Court chastised the returning officer responsible for conducting the Chandigarh mayoral polls, condemning his defacement of ballot papers. The court ordered the preservation of ballots and poll proceedings video, and summoned the returning officer for the next hearing on February 19, characterizing his actions as undermining democracy.