In a heated exchange between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday reiterated allegations of a concerted effort by the BJP to remove AAP voters from the electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Delhi elections.
Kejriwal, accompanied by senior AAP leaders, claimed that BJP representatives had submitted applications to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking the removal of legitimate voters, particularly from constituencies that are AAP strongholds such as Shahdara, Janakpuri, Sangam Vihar, and RK Puram. According to Kejriwal, the lists presented by BJP included thousands of voters who were either deceased or had moved out of these areas. He further alleged that the ECI was processing these requests secretly, with updates missing from its website.
“The BJP has orchestrated a plan to delete votes from areas where AAP has strong support. We have presented documents from BJP’s booth-level agents that show over 11,000 voters in Shahdara alone are marked as either shifted or deceased,” said Kejriwal. He added that the AAP conducted a random verification of 500 names from the BJP’s list, revealing that 372 of these individuals were still living at their listed addresses, thus disproving the BJP’s claims.
Kejriwal also expressed concerns about the transparency of the process, accusing the ECI of handling the matter in a clandestine manner. “We have only heard about victories in Haryana and Maharashtra, but today, we present the evidence of what the BJP is doing in Delhi. They are deleting the votes of AAP supporters to manipulate the election results,” he told the media.
In response, the BJP vehemently denied the allegations, accusing AAP of engaging in vote-buying activities. The party also targeted AAP over claims of receiving foreign donations for electoral purposes, a charge that Kejriwal and his party have consistently denied.
“While AAP points fingers at us, they are indulging in unethical practices like buying votes through foreign funding. This is a tactic to manipulate elections,” said a senior BJP leader.
The latest war of words comes just weeks ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, with both parties accusing each other of attempting to undermine democratic processes in the city. As the political temperature rises in the capital, these accusations are likely to intensify as the election day draws near.
