Kejriwal accuses BJP of manipulating electoral roll
New Delhi, Dec 29: AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the BJP of trying to manipulate voter list in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly elections.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Kejriwal claimed the BJP was trying to win elections through “unfair means” after failing to present strong candidates or issues.
“BJP has already lost the elections. They don’t have a chief ministerial face or even proper candidates. They only aim to win through manipulation, but we won’t let them succeed,” he said.
The former Delhi chief minister alleged that the BJP had filed 11,000 voter deletion applications in one constituency alone, but the move was halted at the Chief Election Commissioner’s intervention.
“We exposed this and thankfully it was stopped,” he said.
Kejriwal said that a large-scale operation began on December 15, with 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests filed so far in his New Delhi Assembly constituency.
He claimed that this could alter 12 per cent of the constituency’s votes.
The total number of voters in the constituency, he said, is 106,873, as per the voter list published on October 29 after the summary revision, which was conducted between August 20 and October 20.
“Operation Lotus has now reached my constituency. They are attempting to manipulate the electoral rolls to change the election outcome,” Kejriwal alleged.
“This kind of manipulation undermines democracy. We appeal to the Election Commission to continue its strict monitoring to prevent such malpractice,” he said.
The AAP national convenor 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. (PTI)
AAP trying to register ‘illegal voters’ in Delhi, claims BJP
New Delhi, Dec 29: The BJP on Sunday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP of trying to register “illegal voters”, fearing defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls.
The BJP’s city unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said in a press conference that his party would not allow “fake votes” to be cast in Delhi.
“We have provided multiple pieces of evidence but Kejriwal is merely attempting to cover up his ‘wrongdoings’ by creating confusion among the people,” he charged.
Sachdeva charged that applications submitted after December 23, when updating electoral rolls was frozen, reflected Kejriwal’s ongoing “manipulation plan” in the 70 constituencies.
He also responded to AAP leader Sanjay Singh on his allegation that the BJP was trying to delete his wife’s name from the electoral roll.
Sachdeva claimed that the two women who applied to cancel Singh’s wife’s vote had family ties with him.
He said the updation of electoral rolls was frozen on December 23, with the updated voters’ list set to be released on January 6.
Despite this, applications for new voters have been submitted in every assembly constituency, he charged.
In Narela alone, more than 2,000 people applied for new voter registrations on December 24. Similar applications were observed in various constituencies on December 25, 26 and 27, he added.
“What is most surprising is that none of these applications belonged to 18-20-year-olds and most of the applicants were in the 30-48 age group. Who brought them (here) and what is their background?” Sachdeva asked.
The BJP has filed complaints with the Election Commission in this regard, he said.
BJP leader Pravesh Verma, the party’s probable candidate from New Delhi, accused AAP and Kejriwal of creating “drama”.
He said Kejriwal’s “Operation Lotus” charge was a reflection of his “desperate attempt to distract people from the AAP government’s governance failures in the past 10 years”. (PTI)