Kejriwal accuses BJP of manipulating electoral roll

Speaking at a press conference alongside Delhi chief minister Atishi and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha at the party’s headquarters, Mr Kejriwal said, “The BJP is trying to win this election by any means."

The AAP chief said: "The BJP neither has any CM face nor any candidates. Last time, they tried to remove the names of 11,000 voters from another constituency, from where we won the polls by 5,000 votes. If they had been successful, we would have lost the election. The staff of the election offices had even started working on the deletion, but due to the intervention of the Chief Election Commissioner, this was stopped.”

In a separate press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also claimed that the BJP submitted an application to delete the vote of his wife Anita, who resides in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.

Mr Singh, who was accompanied by his wife, alleged that the BJP is trying to delete the names of Purvanchali people settled in Delhi. Mr Singh and his wife belong to eastern Uttar Pradesh. Purvanchalis are people from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar settled in Delhi for decades, and form a significant chunk of voters in the city.

Mr Singh claimed that two applications were filed on December 25 and December 26 for deletion of his wife's name from the voters' list of the New Delhi seat. He claimed that the BJP is trying to teach him a lesson for raising in the Rajya Sabha the issue of names of Purvanchali voters being deleted from the voters list in Delhi.

Earlier in the day, Mr Kejriwal, sharing some data from the New Delhi constituency at the press conference at the AAP headquarters, said, “The BJP started this Operation Lotus and in the last 15 days, applications for deleting nearly 5,000 voters have been submitted, while applications for the addition of 7,500 names have also been received. This is clear manipulation of almost 12 per cent of votes. What is the need of the elections if such kind of activity is going on? They did this in Haryana and Maharashtra, but we will not let them do this in Delhi.”

Mr Kejriwal said that the total number of voters in the New Delhi Assembly constituency 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,” he alleged.

The AAP supremo said: “This kind of manipulation undermines democracy. We appeal to the Election Commission to continue its strict monitoring to prevent such malpractice.” He also wrote a letter to the Election Commissioner in this matter seeking details of individuals (objectors) who have submitted more than five applications for deleting names since October 29, 2024.

Mr Kejriwal said: “Specifically, we seek either their EPIC details or copies of Form 7 filed by them. I have enclosed the list of such individuals who have filed more than 5 forms from October 29 to December 25. Who are these individuals who are so keen to get names of voters deleted at such a large scale? At whose behest are they operating? What are their intentions?… To safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, I strongly urge that no further voter deletions be carried out in the constituency unless it is a case of migration (i.e. Form 8) and a death case...”

Responding to Mr Kejriwal’s charges, the Delhi chief electoral officer said all objections and claims regarding the draft electoral roll were addressed by December 24. The final roll will be published on January 6, 2025. The Delhi CEO said the draft electoral roll was published on October 29 and all objections to the same were disposed of by December 24.

In a tweet, the Delhi CEO also said all the booth level officers (BLO) had conducted house-to-house verification to identify un-enrolled eligible citizens, prospective electors, permanently shifted voters and dead electors during the pre-revision period from August 20 to October 18.

The post said: “The special summary revision with respect to the qualifying date, January 1, 2025, is being done as per the Election Commission's letter dated August 7. During the pre-revision period, that is from August 20 to October 18, the BLOs conducted a house-to-house verification to identify the un-enrolled eligible citizens and prospective electors, permanently shifted electors/dead electors/ multiple entries.”

The Delhi CEO said: “The draft electoral roll was published on October 29, calling the claims and objections on the draft roll from October 29 to November 28. All the claims and objections received during this period have been disposed of by December 24, and the final electoral roll with respect to the qualifying date, January 1, 2025, will be published on January 6, 2025.” The CEO, however, said the process of continuous updation with respect to addition, deletion and modification is a continuous activity and the same is being done.

The Assembly elections in Delhi are due in February next year. While the Congress has fielded former chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep from the New Delhi seat, the BJP is planning to field ex-CM Sahib Singh Verma’s son Parvesh from the high-profile seat. Both Mr Dikshit and Mr Verma are former Lok Sabha MPs.

Terming the AAP’s accusations as “baseless” and “a desperate attempt to distract from governance failures,” Mr Verma accused Mr Kejriwal of engaging in theatrics to cover up his government’s shortcomings. He said the AAP supremo’s baseless allegations about Operation Lotus are a clear indication of his insecurity and fear of losing public support.

Mr Verma said: “Filing applications for voter addition or deletion is a routine process in any democracy and to paint this as a conspiracy is just laughable. If Mr Kejriwal is so sure of voter manipulation, why hasn’t he submitted concrete evidence to the Election Commission or the courts? His press conferences are merely a stage for sensationalism, not accountability.”

Mr Verma alleged that Mr Kejriwal was attempting to divert attention from his government’s poor performance, citing issues like the mismanagement of public funds, deteriorating infrastructure, and unfulfilled promises related to schools, hospitals and employment.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva went a step ahead and accused the AAP of trying to manipulate the voters list by adding names of minorities. “Lakhs of minority voters have been added to the electoral list after the Lok Sabha polls. Many Hindu voters living in areas that come under South Delhi, like Kalkaji and Tughlakabad, have made complaints that people from the minority communities are being registered as voters," he alleged.