Congress Criticizes BJP: ‘Operation Lotus’ Fails in Chandigarh Mayor Elections

Congress Criticizes BJP: The mayoral elections, which were set for today, postponed until further notice due to the illness of the presiding officer.

The Congress charged on Thursday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) postponed the Chandigarh mayoral elections because “Operation Lotus failed”. The party also alleged that the move demonstrated the BJP’s inability to accept loss.

The Opposition refers to alleged attempts by the BJP to topple governments through defections as ‘Operation Lotus‘.

“The ‘Operation Lotus’ has failed in Chandigarh. They (the BJP) can sense their defeat. They lost morale when they did not even show up (to vote). We (the AAP and the Congress) are all here to vote. This demonstrates that the BJP cannot accept loss,” said Chandigarh Congress President H S Lucky.

The mayoral elections, which slated for today, postponed until further notice due to the presiding officer’s illness.

AAP spokesman Raghav Chadha stated that the BJP had sent presiding officer Anil Masih to the hospital.

“The BJP purposefully hospitalised the presiding officer, Anil Masih. Earlier, they had threatened the MC Secretary. Elections cannot cancelled owing to the presiding officer’s illness. We had legitimate passes to enter the MC building, but the cops would not let us in. We are filing an appeal with the High Court to appoint a new presiding officer for the polls today,” he informed HT.

Congress leader Pawan Bansal stated that the BJP wishes to halt the polls.

The Congress and AAP have forged an alliance for the Chandigarh elections. The two parties outnumber the BJP.

In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 members. It also has an ex-officio Member of Parliament with voting privileges.

The Aam Aadmi Party has 13 councillors, while the Congress has seven. If these 20 councillors vote along the political lines of their respective parties, the newly formed alliance has a chance to win big. However, because the mayor elected by councillors via secret vote, the possibility of cross-voting cannot be eliminated.

The development comes amid seat-sharing talks between the AAP and the Congress for the Lok Sabha election.