The Supreme Court of India, on Tuesday, declared Aam Admi Party councillor Kuldeep Kumar the Mayor of Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, overturning the result announced by Anil Masih, the presiding officer, on 30th January 2024.

BJP candidate Manoj Kumar Sonkar was earlier declared the winner after Masih declared 8 votes of the total 36 votes invalid. Sonkar received 16 votes, while AAP-INDIA candidate got 12 votes.

The Supreme Court today said that the 8 votes that were claimed to be invalid were in favour of Kuldeep Kumar and therefore declared with the rightful elected Mayor. The apex court also initiated criminal proceedings against Masih, a BJP leader, for unlawfully altering the course of the election and for making false statement before the court.

Reacting to the news, National Convenor of AAP and Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal remarked that “They (BJP) do not win elections, they steal elections.” He said that it was the first and huge victory for INDIA bloc and said that BJP can be defeated with unity, planning and strategy.

Thanking the Supreme Court, Kejriwal said that its decision is very important to save democracy.

Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge said, “The Supreme Court has saved Democracy from the fangs of an autocratic BJP, which resorted to dirty election manipulation.” He urged all Indians to collectively fight “Modi-Shah’s devious conspiracy to trample Democracy”.