19022024-CT-01.qxd 2/19/2024 12:52 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune OUT OF SHADOW, CHEEMA REVELS IN OTT SUCCESS WELCOME TO THE ACTION ZONE IN BOLLYWOOD VARUN DHAWAN, NATASHA EXPECTING THEIR FIRST CHILD Says playing Prashant in Sapne v/s Everyone helped him shed emotional turmoil he got playing Kaala. P4 Car chase, gunfight, plane hijack — action films are set to dominate the big screen this year. P4 After three years of marriage, Varun Dhawan and Natasha Dalal are all set to embrace parenthood. P4 » » AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 304 PANCHKULA 72 MOHALI 288 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF TWO ATTACKED OUTSIDE CLUB Chandigarh: Two youths were injured in an attack outside a nightclub in Sector 26. The complainant, Ashish Kundu, a native of Sonepat, alleged that two persons attacked him and his friend Harsh Mallik with a beer bottle outside the club on February 17. Both suffered injuries in the attack and were admitted to the Government MultiSpeciality Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16. The police said a case had been registered under Sections 324 and 34 of the IPC at the Sector 26 police station. TNS WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 43, 45 and Maloya Mohali: Phase V Panchkula: MDC, Sector 5 Poonam, Neha, Gurcharanjit join party in Delhi, repolls likely soon Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, February 18 A day before hearing in the Supreme Court, Mayor Manoj Sonkar, who was elected amid allegations of rigging by presiding officer Anil Masih on January 30, resigned today, paving the way for fresh mayor’s election. In a boost to the BJP , three AAP councillors have joined the ruling party. According to information, Sonkar, accompanied by party leaders, submitted his resignation to MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra around 10:30 pm at her residence. The BJP kept it a secret the whole day. City BJP president Jatinder Pal Malhotra claimed, “The Mayor resigned at 2 pm today.” When asked about the reason for the resignation, he said, “The Opposition was creating a ruckus and disturbing the environment of the city every day. So, he has resigned. Let election be held again.” However, the BJP leaders have not resigned from the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor. They Poonam, Neha Musawat and Gurcharanjit Singh (Kala) of AAP join BJP at general secretary Vinod Tawde’s Delhi residence. LET THERE BE REPOLLS ❝The Mayor resigned at 2 pm on Sunday. The Opposition was creating a ruckus and disturbing the environment of the city every day. So, he has resigned. Let election be held again. ❞ — Jatinder Pal Malhotra, CITY BJP PRESIDENT claimed there was no dispute over these two posts as the Opposition had staged a walkout during polling. With the three AAP councillors defecting to the BJP the , ruling party now has a majority in the MC House. Defection ADVANTAGE BJP Now, the BJP has a total of 18 votes in the MC House (17 councillors and ex officio member, i.e. MP). Even if AAP, which now has 10 votes, manages to fight the possible mayoral repolls in alliance with the Congress, which has seven councillors, it will still be left with one vote short of 18 votes of the BJP. Last time, the lone SAD councillor voted for the ruling party. by the AAP councillors is said to be the reason for the new move by the saffron party. A party leader said after Sonkar’s resignation, repolls would be conducted and he would win again. Speculation was rife the c m y b whole day that Sonkar will resign during a party councillors’ meeting at the PWD rest house in Panchkula. In the evening, all party councillors were asked to reach Kisan Bhawan in Panchkula and spend the night there till further directions. It seems the ruling BJP wants to keep its flock together ahead of the apex court’s directions on Monday. Meanwhile, Neha Musawat, Poonam and Gurcharanjit Singh (Kala) joined the BJP in the presence of BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde at his Delhi residence. Kala had quit the BJP to join AAP ahead of the the mayoral poll. “The BJP will give them justice as per their potential without any false promises, which AAP made to them. I welcome them in the party and am confident they will work for the betterment of Chandigarh’s citizens,” said Tawde at the joining of the BJP by the three councillors. Neha said AAP had promised to make her the mayoral candidate claiming they would give an opportunity to continued on page 2 FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE ALLEGED BALLOT TAMPERING Hearing in SC today Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 18 The Supreme Court will on Monday hear AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar’s petition seeking the quashing of the Chandigarh mayoral election results that declared BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar the winner. The matter is listed before a three-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud, which had on February 5 termed it as “murder of democracy” and ordered the returning officer, who allegedly defaced ballots, to appear before it on February 19 to explain his conduct. The returning officer is expected to appear before the Bench and explain his conduct as visible in a video clip. “Please tell your Returning Officer that the Supreme Court is watching over him. We will not allow democracy to be murdered like this. The only thing… the great stabilising force in the country is the purity of the electoral process,” an angry CJI Chandrachud had on February 5 told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the returning officer, after watching a video clip of his alleged misdeeds. “We are simply appalled by what has happened… Is this the behaviour of a returning officer? He looks at the camera and defaces the ballot and obviously, where there is a MAX 24°C | MIN 13°C YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 10.5°C SUNRISE TUESDAY 6.58 AM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD Mayor Sonkar resigns, 3 AAP councillors join BJP GENERALLY CLOUDY SUNSET MONDAY 6.13 PM » MONDAY | 19 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST A video grab of alleged ballot tampering by Anil Masih. cross at the bottom, he just keeps it into the tray. The moment there is a cross at the top; the man defaces the ballot and then looks at the camera to see who’s looking at him,” the CJI had said, coming down heavily on the returning officer. BJP candidate Manoj Sonkar had bagged 16 votes against the 12 polled by the Congress-AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar after eight votes were rejected in the January 30 polls to elect the Mayor of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation. Issuing notice on Kumar’s petition challenging the results and seeking fresh election, the top court had directed that the entire record pertaining to the mayoral election would be sequestered under the custody of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Registrar General. The top court had ordered a stay on the February 7 meeting of the continued on page 2 Two killed as SUVs collide in Mohali Mohali, February 18 Two persons died after two SUVs collided at the Sector 78-79 intersection in the wee hours today. Deceased Mohammed Aslam Mir (40), a native of J&K, died at the spot, while DAV College student Arya Sharma (21), a native of Kullu, succumbed to injuries during treatment at the Sohana hospital. Mir, a car dealer, was reportedly on his way to J&K from Gujarat, while Arya, along with his four college friends, was returning to their Sector 44 home after having dinner at an eatery in Landran. Eyewitnesses said one of the two vehicles was being driven at a high speed and it rammed the other vehicle at the intersection, tossing the latter into the air. Both vehicles were badly damaged in continued on page 2 One of the vehicles after the accident in Mohali.
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