BJP respects Supreme Court verdict on Chandigarh mayoral election but says 'numbers with party'

BJP on Tuesday said it "respects" the Supreme Court judgment on the Chandigarh mayoral election, even as its leaders said the numbers were in the party's favour after three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors joined BJP.

"We respect the Supreme Court judgment and I don't want to comment on it," former Chandigarh BJP chief Arun Sood told ET. "But there is another aspect of democracy also, and that is numbers. And today numbers are in BJP's favour. Out of the total 36 councillors, 18 are with BJP."

On Sunday, after BJP's "elected" mayor Manoj Sonkar had resigned, three AAP councillors - Punam Devi, Neha Musawat and Gurcharan Kala - had joined BJP in Delhi in the presence of party national general secretary Vinod Tawde, taking the number of BJP councillors to 18.