Three AAP council members join the BJP, and Chandigarh Mayor Manoj Sonkar steps down

Mayor Manoj Sonkar, who was elected on January 30 despite claims of manipulation by presiding officer Anil Masih, resigned today, one day before his hearing in the Supreme Court. This cleared the door for a new mayor to be chosen. Three AAP council members have joined the governing party, which is good news for the BJP.

At around 10:30 p.m., Sonkar reportedly handed in his resignation to MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra at her home, escorted by party leaders. For the entire day, the BJP did not disclose it.

Jatinder Pal Malhotra, the head of the City BJP, said, “The Mayor resigned at 2 pm today.” In response to a question about his resignation, he said, “Every day, the opposition was causing a disturbance and upsetting the city’s environment.” That’s why he quit. Allow another election to be conducted.

The BJP officials still hold the positions of Deputy Mayor and Senior Deputy Mayor, nonetheless. They said that because the opposition had staged a walkout during the polling, there was no disagreement over these two positions.

The BJP has gained three AAP councilors, giving the governing party a majority in the MC House. The saffron party’s recent action is allegedly the result of AAP council members defecting.

Following Sonkar’s resignation, a party leader said that new elections would be held, and this time, he would win.

All day, there was a lot of speculation that Sonkar might step down at a party council meeting at the PWD rest home in Panchkula.

All party council members were instructed to go to Kisan Bhawan in Panchkula in the evening and stay overnight until further instructions were given. It seems that the BJP in power wants to hold its group together before following the Supreme Court’s Monday instructions.

While all was going on, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde was there when Neha Musawat, Poonam, and Gurcharanjit Singh (Kala) joined the party at his Delhi home. Prior to the mayoral election, Kala had left the BJP to join the AAP.

“The AAP offered them false promises, and the BJP will provide them justice according to their capacity. Tawde greeted the three council members as they joined the BJP, saying, “I welcome them to the party and am confident they will work for the betterment of Chandigarh’s citizens.”

Neha said the AAP had pledged to nominate her for mayor, saying they would provide a chance to someone with more education, but that had not happened. PM Modi, according to Poonam, is the messiah of the Dalits and the impoverished, having accomplished much development work for all facets of society. She joined the BJP with great pleasure.

Gurcharanjit Kala stated he was back in his own party after being duped by certain persons and having his phone confiscated.

Currently, the BJP has 17 council members and one ex officio member, or MP, giving it a total of 18 votes in the MC House. The AAP, which now has 10 votes, will still only have one vote remaining out of the BJP’s 18 votes even if it is able to combat the potential mayoral repolls in coalition with the Congress, which has seven councillors. Nevertheless, since the AAP said that it will run alone for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, the Congress does not seem to be in the mood to form an alliance in the next municipal elections.

Manoj Sonkar of the BJP beat Kuldeep Dhalor Tita of the AAP, who was fielded under the INDIA bloc, to become the next mayor. Anil Masih, the presiding officer, was accused by the opposition of manipulating the votes cast. Kuldeep received 12 votes, while Sonkar received 16. There were eight invalid votes.

Senior AAP leader Prem Garg reacted to the news by saying, “The BJP has to carry out operation Lotus, even for an election like the MC mayoral poll.” It is quite unfortunate. The governing party’s horse dealing has to be addressed by the honorable courts. We demand that the eight votes that Anil Masih falsely declared invalid be accepted as legitimate and that the AAP’s nominee be named mayor. Additionally, the SC need to firmly advocate that the Municipal Corporation, where party emblems are used for elections, be allowed to use the anti-defection statute. A show of hands should be used to choose the mayor.