Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which otherwise is short of a simple majority in Chandigarh’s 35-member municipal corporation (MC) house, clinched the mayoral polls on Tuesday (January 30) amid allegations of vote rigging.The combined opposition of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, which jointly fought the election and had the requisite votes to win the polls, shared a video grab showing presiding officer Anil Masih using a pen on many votes, which they believed was deliberately done to invalidate some of the ballots cast.As many as eight votes were declared invalid during counting, paving the way for the BJP’s mayoral candidate, Manoj Sonkar, to win the polls.The opposition also alleged that Masih also took away the cast ballots and later tore them off, something he denied.Speaking to The Wire, Masih, who is a nominated councillor and is learnt to be heading the BJP’s Chandigarh minority cell, said that the votes were declared invalid due to councillors’ own mischief. They did not properly cast votes, which made their votes invalid during counting, he said.“In fact, I invited members of the opposition to check all the votes after the counting, but they created a ruckus and even tried to snatch the votes. All thanks to Chandigarh’s police security, the votes were taken into safe custody. They are now with the Chandigarh administration,” he added.While he did not elaborate what made eight votes invalid, it is learnt that there was improper marking on the said votes.AAP moves HC, case listing on WednesdayWhile allegations and counter-allegations were flying thick, the AAP moved the Punjab and Haryana high court demanding fresh elections.While the case is listed for hearing on Wednesday morning, the AAP claimed in its petition that the outcome of the mayoral election was the result of complete fraud and forgery by the presiding officer.As per the petition, the problem started when the presiding officer ordered the officials of the MC to empty the ballot box in one of the trays kept on the table and asked everyone to step aside.He then announced in the house that he was going to start the counting of the votes.Councillors from the Congress and the AAP immediately raised the issue that according to the rules and precedents, one nominee from each party contesting the election had to participate in the counting process along with the presiding officer by monitoring the position of the votes cast.As per the petition, the demand was not accepted despite objections from the opposition and he began counting on his own.There were three baskets in front of the presiding officer, one for the AAP and Congress’s candidate, another for the BJP’s candidate and a third for invalid votes.“It is clear from the videography that the Presiding Officer shuffled the casted [sic] votes from one basket to another basket only with a view to create a confusion during which he completely compromised the election process by forgery and tampering,” the petition claimed.It continued: “The prescribed authority and Secretary of the Municipal Corporation who were present were mute spectators and did not ensure a free and a fair election.”How MC house numbers stack up and what happenedIn the 35-member MC house, the BJP has 14 councillors. The Congress has seven councillors, the AAP 13, and one councillor belongs to the BJP’s former ally, the Akali Dal.There is one additional vote of the Chandigarh MP, who is the ex-officio member of the house; currently, that is BJP MP Kirron Kher.This means that the BJP had a maximum of 15 votes, while the joint opposition candidate of the AAP and Congress had 20 votes, five more than the BJP’s tally.As per the election result, the BJP’s Manoj Sonkar got 16 votes, while AAP-Congress candidate Kuldeep Tita got just 12.It is believed that eight votes of opposition members were declared “invalid” and that the BJP not only retained its tally but had the support of Akali councillors too.Allegations and counter-allegationsDelhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal called the result “dishonest” and “very worrying”.“If these people can stoop so low in a mayor’s election, then they can go to any extent in the country’s elections,” he said.The AAP’s Punjab in-charge and MP, Raghav Chadha, compared what had happened to “treason” and demanded the arrest of the presiding officer.The Congress’s Pawan Kumar Bansal too alleged that the presiding officer conducted a charade of an election. It was a blatant misuse of election procedure, he said.BJP members, on the other hand, claimed that it was the Congress which spoiled the party for the AAP.Seven out of the eight invalid votes were of Congress councillors. They deliberately played mischief with their votes after the AAP in Punjab decided to go alone in the coming Lok Sabha election, they said.Chandigarh Congress chief H.S. Lucky, however, denied this. He told The Wire that the BJP was covering up for its blatant misdeed in the mayoral elections.He said that both the Congress and the AAP had a pre-election pact that the AAP candidate would fight for the mayor’s post, while Congress candidates would fight for the senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts.But the BJP played fraud and snatched the victory in undemocratic manner, he added.Earlier, the mayoral election was slated for January 18. But the elections were postponed citing the presiding officer’s ill health.“We had to go [the high court] to reconvene the election and when it was held today, the outcome is for everyone to see how it was rigged and tempered. We are fully backing the AAP in its petition in [the high court],” he added.