Chandigarh mayor's resignation shows BJP won by 'unfair means': Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that BJP leader Manoj Sonkar's resignation as Chandigarh mayor shows that they won the elections by using "unfair means".

Addressing the media outside the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said, "If the mayor has resigned then it is very obvious that something is suspicious there. It clearly shows that they won the elections by unfair means."

"This is how they win other elections too; if they don't, they buy leaders from the winning party. How will a democratic country function if elections are won unfairly? They (BJP) should let the party that won the elections run the government," Kejriwal alleged.

 

Sonkar resigned as Chandigarh mayor and three AAP councillors -- Neha, Poonam and Gurcharan Kala -- joined the BJP on Sunday.

Hitting back at AAP, BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde said that the councillors joined the BJP on their "own will" and alleged that AAP made false promises to those leaders.

"AAP councilors joined the BJP on their own will. Poonam and Neha were promised by AAP that one of them would be made the mayor but the party didn't fulfil its promises. With these leaders joining the BJP, AAP's lies have been exposed," Tawde alleged.

The three AAP councillors switching sides is set to tilt the scales in favour of the BJP whenever fresh mayoral polls are held.

Prior to their joining, the BJP had 14 councillors in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and AAP had 13.

Tawde further alleged that Kejriwal has created fissures within AAP and Congress alliance in Chandigarh, and cited it as a reason for the councillors jumping the ship.

"Kejriwal broke the alliance between AAP and Congress and after this, the perspective of the leaders changed in his party," he alleged.