New Delhi, Feb 3 (Representative) Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the BJP of stealing votes in the Chandigarh Mayor elections describing it as a threat to democracy. “BJP stole votes in Chandigarh Mayor elections and they are a threat to the democracy of the country. To save democracy and the country, we will take to the streets, if required,” Kejriwal said while leading the party’s protest against BJP. “They have the misconception that by stopping the public, they will silence its voice. The more they stop the public, the louder their voice will be,” he said. The AAP held a massive demonstration against the BJP over alleged rigging in the recently concluded Chandigarh mayoral elections.Addressing AAP workers at the protest, Kejriwal said, “We had heard that the BJP has been committing electoral fraud by rigging EVMs, deleting names, and adding fake names to voter lists, but never found any proof. However, this time around, they have been caught committing fraud on camera, he added, referring to the cheating in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.”
There are 36 councillors in Chandigarh. Out of them, 20 belong to INDIA bloc and 16 to the BJP. Consequently, the mayor should have been from the INDIA bloc (AAP+Congress), Kejriwal said, alleging, “But a BJP worker was the Presiding Officer, who counted all the votes on his own without showing it to the counting agents and declared 8 votes of the INDIA bloc as invalid.” “He was caught on live camera putting marks on AAP votes to invalidate them and declaring the BJP candidate as mayor, “ Kejriwal said.He further alleged that there are reports of AAP MLAs, councillors, and volunteers being detained in many places. “AAP leaders and workers coming from Haryana, Punjab, and various parts of Delhi were stopped from reaching the party office ahead of today’s protest. “How can these people stop the public from coming? People were not coming to commit any violence,” he said.“Our party is a party that emerged from the movement. We have carried out big movements.
They have the misconception that if they stop the public, then their voice will be silenced. Rather, the more these people try to stop the public, the louder their voice will be,” he said. The party claimed that their Deputy Mayor of MCD, MLAs of Rajouri Garden, Janakpuri, Bijwasan, Krishna Nagar, and assembly speaker, along with councillors of Hari Nagar, Laxmi Nagar, RK Puram, Badli, Moti Nagar, Tri Nagar, Timarpur, and Seemapuri, AAP Haryana’s State President and former MP Dr. Sushil Gupta were taken into custody by the police and kept at the Punjabi Bagh Police Station for hours. During the protests, Kejriwal shouted a slogan, “Gali-gali mein shor hai, BJP vote chor hai” (There is noise in every street; BJP is a vote thief). The AAP workers were also seen holding placards with slogans such as “Gali-gali mein shor hai, BJP vote chor hai”, “Chor Machaye Shor, BJP voton ka chor” (Thieves create noise; BJP is thief of votes) and waving the AAP flag.