NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the BJP of attempting to tamper with electoral rolls to sway the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP was resorting to “unfair means” to secure victory.
“The BJP has already conceded defeat. They lack strong candidates and a credible chief ministerial face. Their strategy now revolves around manipulation, but we will not let them succeed,” Kejriwal said.
Highlighting specific instances, Kejriwal said that in one constituency alone, BJP operatives had filed 11,000 voter deletion applications before the intervention of the Chief Election Commissioner.
“We brought this to light, and thankfully, the move was stopped,” he said.
The former Delhi chief minister claimed that since December 15, BJP-backed groups had submitted 5,000 voter deletion requests in his New Delhi constituency, with another 7,500 applications in process. This, he said, could impact 12% of the constituency’s votes.
According to Kejriwal, the New Delhi constituency had 1,06,873 registered voters as per the October 29 electoral roll, finalised after a summary revision conducted from August to October. Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP’s alleged “Operation Lotus” had now targeted his constituency.
Kejriwal also wrote a letter to New Delhi District Election Officer (DEO) against the alleged unusual spike in voter addition and deletion applications in the constituency.
“We have written to the DEO requesting that these applications be personally verified by them and SDMs in our presence. Without this, no deletions should be approved,” an official statement said.
Reacting to the allegations, Union minister Hardeep Puri said, “This is the same Arvind Kejriwal and the same AAP that were claiming that the BJP has brought Rohingyas to Delhi. We (BJP) have clarified everything in connection with this. Do you think that the Rohingyas in any condition will vote for the BJP? There is no chance that they will vote for us.”