Chandigarh, July 11 (IANS) The Punjab BJP on Saturday submitted a memorandum to Governor Gulab Chand Kataria here, stating an alleged assault on democratic institutions in the just-concluded elections to mayors in Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats in Punjab.

The party said the elections, which ought to have reflected the free and fair will of the electorate as envisaged under the Constitution, were unfortunately marred by widespread abuse of official machinery, political intimidation, administrative interference and manipulation at every stage by the Aam Aadmi Party government.

“The constitutional mandate contained in Part IX-A of the Constitution of India, which guarantees democratic governance through Urban Local Bodies, has been rendered meaningless by the arbitrary and partisan conduct of the state administration acting at the behest of the ruling party,” reads the memorandum.

“The pattern of illegalities commenced much before polling and continued even after the declaration of results. The entire electoral process suffered from serious procedural improprieties, including arbitrary and politically motivated ward delimitation; preventing opposition candidates from filing nominations through intimidation; physical assaults, snatching of nomination papers and abuse of police and administrative machinery,” it said.

The AAP government secured a win in the Abohar Municipal Corporation and the Morinda Municipal Council on Friday.

However, both the BJP and the Congress smelled foul play, as they claimed that despite the numbers, the government functionaries carried out strong-arm tactics through the misuse of power.

Claiming the support of 28 councillors, along with one vote from Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar, against the AAP’s 20, the BJP questioned how the AAP nominee could have been declared mayor.

BJP’s National Information and Technology Department in-charge Amit Malviya said that in Abohar, despite the BJP being the single largest party with 28 councillors, the AAP candidate was declared Mayor after a secret ballot that has now come under a cloud.

“Serious allegations have been raised: an unexplained postponement of the election, no video recording of the ballot counting, and claims that the Returning Officer simply announced the result without any transparent verification before attempting to leave,” he wrote on X.

Malviya further said if even a fraction of these allegations had surfaced in a BJP-ruled state, there would have been wall-to-wall outrage, press conferences, editorials, and lectures on the ‘murder of democracy’.

He said democracy cannot have different standards for different political parties. If transparency matters, it must matter irrespective of who is in power. The people of Punjab deserve answers, not selective outrage.

–IANS

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