NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has raised serious allegations of electoral malpractice in the New Delhi Assembly constituency, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of orchestrating a “big scam” to manipulate voters and influence the upcoming elections.
Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal claimed that thousands of fake applications for vote cancellations and additions had been filed in the constituency in recent weeks.
“In the New Delhi Assembly constituency, from 15 December to 7 January, in 22 days, 5,500 applications have come for cancellation of votes. These applications are fake,” Kejriwal alleged. He said that when officials investigated the matter and contacted the individuals whose votes were reportedly being cancelled, they found that these applications had been filed without their knowledge. “A big scam is going on,” he added.
Kejriwal further accused BJP candidate Parvesh Verma of organising job camps and openly distributing cash to influence voters. “In the last fifteen days, 13,000 applications have come for new votes. Fake votes are being created by bringing people from other states. Parvesh Verma is organising job camps and openly distributing money. These things come under corrupt practices under the rules and regulations of the Election Commission,” he said.
The AAP convenor called for stringent action against Verma, demanding that he be barred from contesting the elections and that his residence be raided. “The Election Commission of India must ensure that such practices are stopped immediately. The local election officer of the New Delhi Assembly constituency has surrendered to the BJP and is facilitating all the wrong works of the BJP. The local DEO and ERO should be suspended,” Kejriwal urged.
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann also weighed in on the controversy, expressing faith in the ECI. “We trust that the ECI will take strict action against the officers of the New Delhi Assembly constituency and also on the deletion and addition of votes. ECI is our last hope. It is the responsibility of the ECI to save democracy,” Mann said.
The allegations have sparked a political storm, with AAP urging immediate intervention by the ECI to prevent further violations. Taking to X, AAP shared a letter addressed to chief election commissioner “to highlight a large number of voter additions and deletions in the New Delhi assembly.”
According to the post, Delhi CM Atishi has also demanded that “verification of the authenticity of objectors should be carried out before the exercise of voter deletion is done.”
The letter includes the data of applications submitted for voter deletions and additions.
