“The opposition is celebrating as if they have won the elections. In the last 10 Lok Sabha elections, i.e., from 1984 to 2024, the Congress could not cross even the 250-seat mark. But, they have this artificial confidence,” the finance minister added. 

The grand old party revealed 16 more faces, fielding former Union minister Manish Tewari against Bharatiya Janata Party's Sanjay Tandon.   

Tandon, who is also BJP's co-in-charge for Himachal Pradesh, thanked his party leadership for giving him the ticket from Chandigarh, which will go to polls in the last phase of general elections on June 1. 

Anil Masih, who had held the position of general secretary of the minority cell of the Chandigarh BJP since 2021, has now been replaced by Istekhar Ahmed.

Masih, a member of the BJP since 2015 and a nominated councillor of the Municipal Corporation since 2022, holds a temporary administrative role overseeing mayoral elections.

A large contingent of police was deployed and barricades were erected in Sector 35 to prevent the protesters from going towards the BJP office.

By terming the presiding officer's actions as "murder of democracy", the apex court has sent a strong message that electoral malpractices will not be tolerated, calling for the prosecution of the returning officer.

In the controversial election, a BJP candidate was declared the winner, invalidating votes of 8 Congress-AAP alliance candidates.

The case, brought forward by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi on behalf of councillor Kuldeep Kumar, is set to be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

Kumar's plea challenges the decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which on January 31, refused to stay the election or restrain Mayor Manoj Sonkar from assuming office.

While the AAP will stage a protest outside the BJP headquarters over alleged cheating in the Chandigarh mayoral polls, the BJP has said its members will protest near the AAP head office against the "corruption" in the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will also take part in the protest.