It has ordered fresh polls within six weeks under a monitoring mechanism overseen by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Supreme Court has set aside elections in 50 municipal wards of Punjab, including the wards of Patiala’s senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
The bench requested the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to appoint, within one week, a monitoring committee headed by a retired judge of that court. “The re-election schedule shall be notified only after the Monitoring Committee has been duly constituted,” the bench said.
They also alleged that the nomination process was not video-recorded despite court directions. The 50 wards comprise 28 in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-ruled Patiala Municipal Corporation and 22 in the Dharamkot and Baghapurana municipal councils of Moga district. Among the Patiala wards set aside are ward 28, represented by senior deputy mayor Harinder Kohli, and ward 12, represented by deputy mayor Jagdip Singh Rai, according to the corporation’s list.
The petitioners, described in the order as “associated with different National/State Political Parties”, alleged, “Members of the ruling party, police officials, and unknown third parties prevented [prospective candidates] from submitting their nomination forms, including by physical assault, tearing of clothes, and snatching of the nomination papers.
Opposition Attacks AAP
The state government was yet to react. Because opposition candidates were prevented from filing nominations, in Patiala, it found 13 wards were vitiated. Because a man called Gaurav Kumar was prevented from filing his nomination, the order noted, ward 34 will see re-polling.
These were wards 1, 12, 32, 33, 36, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 50, 51 and 52.
Another 14 wards here were affected because particular opposition candidates were “forcibly excluded from contesting”, though it “could not determine whether their participation would have changed the result”. It also found “serious evidence of bogus/multiple voting and intimidation” in wards 15 and 58. He said the Congress will “continue to stand firm and fight to protect democracy, constitutional rights, and the people’s mandate”. BJP’s Jai Inder Kaur also said the SC’s order “exposes the AAP government”.
