Arvind Kejriwal's Trump analogy after BJP wins Chandigarh mayor polls

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of rigging elections and compared them to former US president Donald Trump after losing the Chandigarh mayoral polls on Tuesday.

Kejriwal said that the BJP will adopt all means, from buying voters to rigging EVMs, to win any election in the country. He added that if BJP loses the 2024 Lok Sabha elections they will not let go of power like Donald Trump in the 2020 US elections.

The Delhi chief minister was referring to allegations by Trump that the presidential elections were rigged after he lost to Joe Biden and his reluctance to give up the post.

Kejriwal's reaction came after the BJP swept the Chandigarh mayoral polls, winning all the three posts including of mayor, defeating the Congress-AAP alliance.

Addressing a press conference, the AAP national convener said the entire country saw what happened in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

"It is a black day for democracy. Everyone saw how they stole votes and forcibly made their candidate win. The issue is not who becomes mayor but the country should not lose and the democracy should not lose. Mayors come and go, parties come and go," he said.

In the mayoral polls, BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar (16 votes) defeated the AAP's Kuldeep Kumar (12 votes). Eight votes were declared invalid.

In Chandigarh, the councillors of the INDIA bloc parties -- AAP and Congress -- protested as soon as the results were announced.

Accusing the BJP of indulging in "hooliganism" in full public view, Kejriwal said if people do not stop it together it will be extremely "dangerous" for the nation.

"The AAP-Congress alliance had a clear majority and it was a straight election. Eight votes or 25 per cent of the total votes were declared invalid. What kind of election was this? The mayoral poll result shows there is something wrong and at a large scale, they can go to any extent in national polls," he alleged.

Kejriwal said the BJP-led Centre is "resorting" to extreme actions to target opposition leaders, breaking parties and toppling governments.

"This means that they are not getting a majority in Lok Sabha polls. The INDIA bloc is strong. If the Chandigarh mayor elections were conducted honestly, the INDIA bloc would have registered its first win today," he said.

With PTI inputs