In India, the Supreme Court invalidated a municipal election on Tuesday, February 20, after revelations of significant fraud on the part of the president of the polling station, which had given the Hindu nationalist BJP party the winner, against all expectations.
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“ We are not going to let democracy be assassinated! » This is how the president of the Supreme Court Indian reacted upon seeing the video of the vote counting, reports our correspondent in New Delhi, Sébastien Farcis. The municipal council of Chandigarh city in northern Punjab from Indiaheld by the national opposition of the INDIA bloc, voted to elect their mayor on January 30.
But in the images, we see the president of the office invalidating with a stroke of a pencil eight ballots which were favorable to the candidate of this opposition, Kuldeep Kumar. By invalidating these eight ballots, the municipality was won by the Hindu nationalist BJP party and its candidate, Manoj Sonkar.
But initially, the latter had obtained only 16 votes out of a total of 36 votes, and his opposition competitor, Kuldeep Kumar, 20 votes, reports the Indian media India Today. The Supreme Court therefore accuses the president of the polling station of having made a “ deliberate effort to erase eight ballots » and modify the outcome of this vote.
The town hall returns to the national opposition, judges the Court
An illegal manipulation, according to the judges, who therefore reversed the result this Tuesday, February 20: according to their judgment, the town hall goes to the national opposition bloc. The Supreme Court also ordered the prosecution of the returning officer, a BJP leader, for his “ offense “.
Narendra Modi’s party is therefore caught in the act of electoral cheating. A rare and worrying electoral fraud, two months before the start of the legislative elections, during which nearly a billion Indians will vote. For the opposition, this shows that the BJP is ready to do anything to win elections, and thanks the Supreme Court for ” saved democracy “.
This fraud occurs on the same day as the announcement of the main opposition leader released on bail Indian, Rahul Gandhi, implicated in a defamation case brought against him by the Minister of the Interior.
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