BJP leader Manoj Sonkar resigned as Chandigarh mayor this evening, a day ahead of the Supreme Court hearing in the alleged tampering in the mayoral election. He won the poll – seen as the first election battle against the INDIA bloc by defeating the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Kuldeep Kumar – lest than a month ago, on January 30.

The BJP secured 16 votes and Kuldeep Singh, the joint candidate of the Congress and AAP was able to manage 12 votes. 8 votes – that became a flashpoint between the BJP and opposition – were declared invalid.

The troubles for the AAP, however, are far from over as three of its councillors – Poonam Devi, Neha and Gurcharan Kala – joined the BJP today. The BJP had 14 councillors in the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation and after today’s additions, the tally is at 17. They also have the support of one Shiromani Akali Dal councillor and BJP’s Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher also has voting rights as an ex-officio member which brings BJP to the magic number of 19.

The AAP now has 10 councillors while its ally Congress has seven.

Soon after the results were declared on January 30, chaos broke out in the House with Congress and AAP councillors accusing the BJP of cheating and not following the due electoral process. They also alleged that presiding officer Anil Masih was caught “tampering” with ballot papers in a video that they later submitted to the Supreme Court. The charge was rubbished by the BJP.

Appalled by the alleged defacing of ballot papers, the Supreme Court had said it amounted to a mockery of democracy and ordered that the ballots and the video of the electoral proceedings be preserved.

“Is this the behaviour of a returning officer? He looks at the camera, and defaces the ballot obviously,” Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said after viewing a video of the counting. 

The court had asked Masih, the designated council member, must appear before it on February 19.

The AAP and Congress described the court’s observations as a “tight slap” for the BJP.

The mayoral poll, originally scheduled for January 18, was deferred to February 6 by the Chandigarh administration after the presiding officer fell ill.

The High Court on January 24 directed the administration to hold the mayoral polls at 10 am on January 30. While dismissing the order postponing the elections, the court called it “unreasonable, unjustified and arbitrary”.

The AAP had first approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court and sought fresh elections under the supervision of a retired judge but the court refused to grant any interim relief. Kuldeep Kumar, who lost the Chandigarh mayoral election, then went to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order.

A panel of three Union ministers on Sunday proposed the buying of pulses, maize, and cotton crops by government agencies at minimum support prices for five years after entering into an agreement with farmers.

Speaking to the media after a more than four-hour-long meeting with farmer leaders here, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the “innovative” and “out-of-the-box” idea came up during the discussions.

The minister said the farmer leaders will decide on the proposals put forward by the government by Monday morning.

“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow ‘tur dal’, ‘urad dal’, ‘masoor dal’ or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” said Mr Goyal.

“There will be no limit on the quantity (purchased) and a portal will be developed for this,” he added.

It will save Punjab’s farming, improve the groundwater table, and save the land from getting barren which is already under stress, Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry, said.

He also proposed that the Cotton Corporation of India buy cotton from farmers at a minimum support price (MSP) for five years after entering into a legal agreement with them.

“We also want the cotton crop to be revived in Punjab. Whosoever farmer revives cotton or sows it, the CCI will enter into a legal agreement and whatever crop comes from the field through diversification will be bought for five years at MSP,” said Mr Goyal.

A panel of Union ministers held the fourth round of talks with farmer leaders here on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers were camping at the Punjab-Haryana border.

Mr Goyal, along with Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Arjun Munda, and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai reached the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26 for the talks.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting.

The Union ministers and farmer leaders had met earlier on February 8, 12 and 15 but the talks remained inconclusive.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A fourth meeting between the protesting farmers and a government delegation late last night seems to have made headway in the deadlock that saw a massive faceoff on the Punjab-Haryana border last week.

The government has proposed to buy pulses, maize, and cotton crops from the farmers in Punjab at the minimum safety price (MSP) for the next five years, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said after their Chandigarh meeting that lasted well past midnight.

The protesting farmers have sought two days to discuss the proposal in their forums while a decision on their other demands remains pending.

MSP refers to a price fixed by the government to protect farmers against a steep fall in prices. It acts as a safety net and prevents losses.

Mr Goyal, who met the farmers along with ministers Arjun Munda and Nityanand Rai, said government agencies will sign a contract with the farmers for the next five years for the proposed procurement and there will be no limit on the buying quantity.

Read | What Minister Piyush Goyal Said After 4th Meeting With Protesting Farmers

“Cooperative societies like the NCCF (National Cooperative Consumers Federation) and NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India) will enter into a contract with those farmers who grow tur dal, urad dal, masoor dal or maize for buying their crop at MSP for next five years,” the minister said.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also joined the meeting, said the farmers need assured pricing if they must go for crop diversification. 

Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said they will take the opinion of experts and then decide on their future course of action. He also hoped that their other demands would also be resolved in the next two days

Read | “We Had Asked For MSP Guarantee On Purchase Of Pulses”: Bhagwant Mann

The ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, which saw thousands of farmers heading towards Delhi with their tractors filled with ration for months, will be put on hold. But the march will resume on February 21 if all their demands are not met, he said.

Besides a law on MSP, the farmers are also demanding a loan waiver, the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations, pension for farmers and farm labourers, and the withdrawal of police cases filed against them during the protests.

The farmers began their march to Delhi last Tuesday and are now camping at Shambhu and Khanauri borders between Punjab and Haryana, where layers of barricades have been erected to stop them. There has been no report of any confrontation with the security personnel since their last meeting held four days ago.

Delhi is also fortified with Ghazipur, Singhu, and other borders partially sealed. Concrete blocks and nails are placed on roads to stop their tractors and trollies from crossing over.