Chandigarh MC polls: AAP emerges leading party, sitting BJP mayor loses contest
Chandigarh(PTI): New entrant Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as the leading outfit in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls, winning 14 of 35 wards in the final results declared on Monday.
The BJP, which enjoyed a majority in the previous MC House, came a close second registering win in 12 wards while the Congress bagged eight seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.
Current Chandigarh Mayor and BJP candidate Ravi Kant Sharma was defeated by AAP's Damanpreet Singh, who won by a margin of 828 votes in Ward No.17.
AAP leader and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha called his party's performance a "trailer" before next year's Punjab Assembly polls. Chandigarh is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.
This time, the number of wards in the city was increased from 26 to 35. In the last MC elections, the BJP had won 20 seats and its erstwhile ally SAD one. The Congress had managed to win only four seats.
Traditionally, the municipal elections, held every five years, see a locking of horns between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP's entry made the contest this time triangular.
In the results declared on Monday, AAP leader Chander Mukhi Sharma lost to Congress' Sachin Galav by a margin of 285 votes from Ward Np. 13. Chander Mukhi had joined AAP after quitting the Congress last year.
Former mayor and BJP candidate Davesh Moudgil lost to AAP's Jasbir by 939 votes from Ward No. 21. In Ward No. 25, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Vijay Kaushal Rana was defeated by Yogesh Dhingra of AAP by a margin of 315 votes.
The ward was earlier represented by Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood.
From Ward No.2, Congress leader Harmohinder Singh Lucky lost by a narrow margin of 11 votes to BJP's Maheshinder Singh Sidhu.
BJP's senior leader Heera Negi lost from Ward No.22 to AAP's Anju Katyal by a narrow margin of 76 votes.
Among the prominent winners, Harpreet Kaur Babla of the Congress, wife of party senior leader Devinder Singh Babla, won with a margin of 3,103 votes, defeating Rashi Bhasin of the BJP in Ward No.10.
BJP's Saurabh Joshi won from Ward No. 12 with a handsome margin of 1,887 votes, defeating Deipa Asdhir Dubey of the Congress.
Congress leader Gurbax Rawat defeated BJP's senior leader Ravinder Singh Rawat from Ward No.27 by a margin of 2,862 votes. Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP registered a win from Ward Number 14, defeating AAP's Kuldeep Singh by a margin of 255 votes.
From this ward, Chandigarh Congress chief Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla had also entered the fray.
From Ward number 30, SAD's Hardeep Singh defeated Congress' Atinderjit Singh by 2,145 votes.
Reacting to his win against the sitting mayor, AAP's Damanpreet Singh said he gives credit for this victory to city party leader Pradeep Chhabra, whom he called "his guru", party national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
"Work is always appreciated and it has paid dividends today," he said.
Hitting out at the BJP and the Congress, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said people were fed up with them as they failed to deliver despite being given chance repeatedly.
People were looking for an "honest, viable alternative", he said.
"These two traditional parties failed to undertake development and bring about a change in the system, which people wanted. People saw how an ordinary councillor, who used to roam on bicycle and scooter, has big farmhouses and accumulated properties," said Chadha.
Asked if the results will have any impact on the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha quipped, "This is just a trailer."
"The mood of people here will be seen in the Punjab polls too," he said.
"People of Chandigarh have given a chance to Kejriwal, people of Punjab too will give us one chance," he added.
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Zero tolerance for someone like Prajwal Revanna, K'taka govt allowed him to leave country: PM Modi
New Delhi, May 6: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that there should be zero tolerance for someone like Prajwal Revanna, and accused the Congress government in Karnataka of allowing the JD(S) MP to go out of the country and releasing the incriminating sex videos after the polls were over in the region dominated by Vokkaligas.
Modi told Times Now that the responsibility to take action in the raging matter lay with the state government as it was a law and order issue, according to the transcript of the interview provided by the broadcaster.
He said the presence of thousands of videos implies that it is of the time when the JD(S) was in alliance with the Congress. These videos were gathered when they were in power and they released it during the elections after Vokkaligas exercised their franchise, he added.
The videos were released after he was sent out of the country, the prime minister said, calling the development very suspicious. If the state government had information, it should have kept a watch and there should have been vigil at the airport, he said.
"You did not do anything, the government of India was not informed. This means that it was a political game and they know that these videos were from the time they were in alliance and they accumulated these videos. However, this is not my issue, my issue is that any culprit should not be spared. These games should be stopped in our nation," he said, according to the transcript.
He added, "As far as Modi is concerned, as far as the BJP is concerned, as far as our Constitution is concerned, I am of the clear view that there should be zero tolerance against such people. Stringent punishment should be given using all the legal options available."
Replying to a question, he said, "We should bring him back and strict action should be taken against him. There should be no ifs and buts."
The Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) ran an alliance government in Karnataka after the 2018 polls and parted ways after fighting the 2019 Lok Sabha polls together.
Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda-led party entered into an alliance with the BJP in September last year and they are fighting the current Lok Sabha polls together.
The Congress has used the issue of Revanna's alleged sexual exploitation of a large number of women, captured in nearly 3000 video clips, to target the BJP.
Revanna, Gowda's grandson, is again in the fray from Hassan, where polling was held on April 26. The regional party enjoys influence in south Karnataka, especially among Vokkaligas, the community Gowda belongs to.
To a poser about his charge against the Congress over issues like inheritance tax and redistribution of wealth, the prime minister said he has cited the language, words and written assurance of the party and its leaders to make his point.
"This time I have exposed them to the hilt. That is why they are rattled. When they go seeking votes of one community, they speak differently, and when they approach the other community, they take a neutral stand. This is their duplicity," he said.
This is unlike the BJP which always talked about building the Ram temple, abrogation of Article 370, and the Uniform Civil Code, he noted.
On the other hand, the Congress has been continuously lying while attacking the BJP by alleging that it intends to change the Constitution, he said, adding that some BJP members said something and the Congress blew it out of proportion.
"They are refusing to hear our version. Now, the Congress asks where wealth distribution and inheritance tax are mentioned in its manifesto. The Congress shouldn't have double standards. The Congress will have to answer," Modi said.
Expanding his arguments against reservation based on religion, he said such an idea goes against the Constitution. Citing his government's welfare measures, Modi said he does not discriminate on the basis of religion.
