Former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal accuses BJP of manipulating electoral rolls

Arvind Kejriwal accuses BJP of voter list manipulation ahead of Delhi elections, vows to stop unfair tactics.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (December 29, 2024) accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (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, Mr. Kejriwal claimed that the BJP was trying to win elections through "unfair means" after failing to present strong candidates or issues.

"The 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," Mr. Kejriwal said.

The former Delhi Chief Minister also alleged that the BJP had filed 11,000 voter deletion applications in one constituency alone, but the move was halted at Chief Election Commissioner's intervention. "We exposed this and thankfully, it was stopped."

Mr. Kejriwal said a large-scale operation began on December 15, with 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests filed so far in his Assembly constituency, New Delhi. He claimed that this could alter 12% of the Constituency's votes.

The total number of voters in the Constituency, he said, is 1,06,873, 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," Mr. 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 BJP is yet to respond to the allegations.