Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after the Supreme Court rebuked the returning officer for allegedly defacing ballot papers during the Chandigarh mayoral polls.

Yadav condemned the BJP’s alleged hunger for power, suggesting that the incident exposed their willingness to rig elections. He urged BJP supporters to recognise the party’s reliance on “theft and scams” to secure victories, expressing concern for the country’s future under such leadership.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court posed searching questions to Returning Officer Anil Masih and said that putting a mark on ballot papers cannot be allowed in an electoral democracy. During the hearing, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud voiced displeasure over the way the January 30 mayoral polls were held and told Masih that he could be prosecuted in case of any falsehood.

In a post on X, in Hindi, Yadav said, “The (pro-)BJP presiding officer’s accepting the crime of rigging the Chandigarh mayor elections shows how hungry the BJP is for power. On legal and constitutional grounds, the BJP should apologise to the entire country and give up power everywhere.”

He said, BJP supporters should bow their heads for this “shameful act” of openly killing democracy.

He added, “They should understand how BJP is winning every election through theft and scams. Neither the country nor their own present nor the future of their children is safe in the hands of such people. Today is a day of moral mourning for BJP supporters.”

The SP chief said that the officers who commit “criminal acts” under government pressure should also learn a lesson from this incident.

“This will ruin the lives of them and their families because such crimes are no less than treason, for which they will definitely be punished severely. Now the officials should understand that the BJP will use them and throw them out like a fly in milk and leave them alone behind the bars to live a life of shame and humiliation forever. They will not be able to show their face in front of their children and society. Officials should remember that fraudsters are not anyone’s relatives. Condemnable!”

Expressing profound concern over “horse-trading,” the Supreme Court announced its intention to scrutinize the ballot papers of the Chandigarh mayoral polls and review the video recording of the counting process on Tuesday.

Additionally, the court suggested that instead of ordering fresh polls, it might consider declaring results based on the votes already cast.

The BJP’s victory in the Chandigarh mayoral polls dealt a blow to the Congress-AAP alliance, which alleged ballot tampering by the presiding officer. Manoj Sonkar of the BJP emerged victorious, securing 16 votes against his rival AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar’s 12 votes, with eight votes declared invalid.

Following these developments, Kumar filed a petition in the Supreme Court.

However, Sonkar resigned from his post on Sunday, coinciding with the defection of three AAP councillors to the BJP.