Chandigarh mayor election: After BJP candidate's win, Punjab minister says Congress 'backstabbed' AAP

NEW DELHI: Punjab minister Harpal Singh Cheema, reacting to BJP's victory in Chandigarh mayoral polls, accused ally Congress of "backstabbing" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by not voting honestly in the elections.

Cheema said the BJP pulled off the mayor's poll because it had the "backing" of the Congress party. The AAP leader claimed that, in return, the BJP supported the Congress for the deputy and senior deputy mayor posts.

"The figures that came after the election, that 17 votes went to AAP and 19 to BJP, similar happened in deputy and senior deputy mayor when 19 votes went to Congress and 17 votes went to BJP... This clears that the actual alliance was between BJP and Congress and therefore they (the latter) backstabbed AAP mayor... AAP honestly voted for Congress which is why they could have the majority," Cheema says told news agency ANI.

The Punjab minister also appealed to the Delhi electors not to vote for Congress in upcoming assembly polls in the national capital as any vote given to the grand-old party would to the BJP.

Reacting to a vehicle with alcohol, cash, and AAP campaign material seized from outside Delhi's Punjab Bhawan, Cheema said: "BJP plays petty politics and that car has nothing to do with Punjab government... It was planted by BJP, this should be investigated and those behind it should be punished... No matter how much politics they play, they will lose in Delhi... We will take action and see how the investigation is going forward because that vehicle neither belongs to the Punjab government, nor any person from Punjab, it belongs to BJP... When the investigation advances, it will be revealed that the vehicle belongs to BJP."

BJP on Thursday won the Mayor election by defeating the Congress-AAP alliance candidate Premlata.

Though the alliance candidate had more votes than BJP candidate, but three votes of AAP-Congress alliance were crossed and whet in the favour of BJP candidate Babla.

All 36 polled votes were found valid. Out of these polled votes, BJP candidate Harpreet Kaur Babla got 19 votes, while AAP-Congress candidate Premlata got 17 votes.