In a significant relief for the BJP ahead of the Solan Municipal Corporation elections, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday upheld the right of BJP candidate Piyush Garg to contest from Ward Number 3 after his nomination papers were earlier rejected by the SDM-cum-Assistant Returning Officer.
Garg, the BJP’s official nominee, had been declared ineligible on May 4 on the grounds that he was allegedly a beneficiary of encroachment on government land. The rejection had dealt a setback to the BJP in a ward where the party is already facing a stiff contest from Congress candidate Sardar Singh, BJP rebel Gaurav and Independent candidate Dipin Bakshi.
Welcoming the High Court verdict, BJP state president Dr Rajiv Bindal launched a sharp attack on the Congress government, alleging that democratic values were being “murdered” in Himachal Pradesh through the misuse of administrative machinery. He claimed that efforts were being made across the state to influence municipal corporation elections by exerting pressure on officials and manipulating the electoral process.
Dr Bindal termed the rejection of Garg’s nomination as a “premeditated conspiracy” aimed at keeping the BJP-backed candidate out of the electoral fray. He alleged that power was misused to sideline the BJP nominee, but the High Court’s intervention had exposed the Congress party’s attempts to “hijack” the elections.
He further stated that the controversy had adversely affected the BJP’s campaign and caused mental harassment to both the candidate and party workers. According to him, the Congress government lacked faith in democratic institutions and resorted to intimidation, administrative pressure and misuse of power whenever it sensed public dissatisfaction against its rule.
The BJP leader also accused the state government of corruption, economic mismanagement and pursuing anti-development policies. He asserted that people of the state were disillusioned with the Congress regime and had made up their minds to remove the government from power.
