NEW DELHI: A day after allegations of rigging in the Chandigarh Mayor elections, the Aam Aadmi Party announced on Wednesday that it would stage a massive protest at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. The party stated that both the Chief Ministers of Delhi and Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, would join the protest against the saffron party.
The AAP declared that January 30th would be etched as the ‘darkest day’ in the history of Indian politics, as the BJP-led Union government had allegedly undermined democracy during the Chandigarh Mayor election.
Party leaders expressed that this moment would be remembered as a black day in the history of Indian democracy. They lamented that it was unfortunate that this incident occurred in the same month as Republic Day celebrations, accusing the BJP of undermining the country’s constitution. Bhagwant Singh Mann pointed out that the BJP had a track record of toppling democratically elected governments in states like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and others.
The leaders raised concerns about the fairness of the entire country’s polls and vote counting if the counting of 36 votes couldn’t be conducted freely and fairly. They alleged that these leaders would manipulate ballot papers for their own interests and claimed that EVM machines had already been found in their homes.
They emphasized that democracy was heading in the wrong direction and was not in the best interest of the common man and the nation.
AAP National Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal strongly asserted that the BJP had won the Mayor election through blatant dishonesty, describing this hooliganism as a grave threat to the country’s democracy. He warned that if the BJP could stoop so low in a mayoral election, they were capable of going to any extent in the country’s elections, which was a cause for alarm. Kejriwal noted the historical significance of January 30th, marking the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the advocate of non-violence, and lamented that on the same day, democracy had allegedly been murdered.
He accused the BJP of having ill intentions from the outset and pointed out that their party’s office bearer had been appointed as the presiding officer during the elections, deliberately invalidating 8 out of their 20 votes. Kejriwal urged citizens to take a stand against this hooliganism to protect the country’s future.