Kejriwal alleges ‘mass deletion’ of voters in homeground New Delhi; BJP and ECI deny claims

Over the past month, the AAP has repeatedly alleged changes to the electoral rolls “by the BJP” in multiple assembly constituencies, with both the AAP and the BJP submitting petitions to the ECI

New Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference on voter deletion allegations. (PTI)

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of adopting a three-pronged strategy to manipulate voters’ list in his home segment, the New Delhi assembly constituency, and wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) about an “unusual spike” in additions and deletions to electoral rolls.

Alleging alterations, including both additions and deletions, of around 12,000 voters in the New Delhi assembly constituency, Kejriwal accused the BJP of “removing names of AAP supporters” from rolls, “adding fake voters” to the rolls and “openly distributing cash” in the segment.

Hitting back at the AAP, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said he has been consistently trying to highlight Kejriwal and AAP’s role in registering illegal voters and by making the allegations against the BJP, “Kejriwal was trying to create confusion”.

Meanwhile, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, said that ground checks were undertaken by block-level officers and that deceased, those who moved and those having multiple entries in the rolls were removed.

Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters alongside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and chief minister Atishi, Kejriwal said the BJP is trying to win the elections through “unfair means after failing to present strong candidates or positions on issues”.

“The measures that they adopted in Maharashtra and Haryana will not be allowed to go ahead in Delhi. Earlier, they filed applications to cut 11,000 voters in one assembly (Shahdara) but we went to the election commissioner, whose intervention stopped the process. A large-scale ‘Operation Lotus’ began on December 15, with around 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests filed so far in New Delhi,” Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal is the incumbent legislator from the New Delhi assembly constituency and is likely to go up against Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit, former CM Sheila Dikshit’s son, and BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh, a former West Delhi MP.

Over the past month, the AAP has repeatedly alleged changes to the electoral rolls “by the BJP” in multiple assembly constituencies, with both the AAP and the BJP submitting petitions to the ECI in this regard. On December 12, ECI held a meeting with Delhi’s chief electoral officer, district election officers, deputy commissioners of police and nodal officials to review the progress of special summary revision of rolls and poll preparedness.

Election officials said strict directions were issued in the meeting that no deletion to voters’ list was allowed without a field verification and providing the elector with a notice to ensure they have an opportunity for a hearing. Political party representatives were directed to ensure complete transparency and make necessary disclosures in the process. All complaints and grievances from political parties should be resolved promptly and factually, the official said.

‘Sinister plan’

Kejriwal, in his press conference, said there were 106,879 voters in the New Delhi assembly constituency,going by the voter list published on October 29 after a summary revision between August 20 and October 20.

“BJP wants to delete 5% of votes and add 7.5%: if 12% votes are changed, what is the point of having the election? Elections are being turned into a game. This kind of manipulation undermines democracy. We appeal to the ECI to continue its strict monitoring to prevent such malpractice,” Kejriwal said.

In a letter to the district electoral officer of the New Delhi segment on December 28, Kejriwal said: “I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a significant rise in the number of voter addition and deletion applications received in the New Delhi Assembly Constituency over the past few days.”

“It is concerning that these applications have been submitted after the conclusion of the comprehensive special summary revision exercise. This raises serious concerns about a sinister plan to tinker with the electoral rolls, which are the very foundation of any free and fair election,” the letter added.

Seeking details of individuals who filed at least five deletion applications since October 29, Kejriwal said in the letter: “I have enclosed the list of such individuals who have filed more than five forms from October 29 to December 25, 2024. 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?”

He urged “no further voter deletions” unless in case of migration or death and said all such actions must be preceded by a thorough ground verification by booth-level officers, in the presence of booth-level agents of all parties.

In the press conference, Kejriwal alleged that in a 45-day period between October-end and December 15, 900 applications were moved but from December 15 to 25, around 5,000 applications were moved. “There are 10 people who are moving mass deletion applications. We checked 500 applications and 408 were found to be living at their residences. These applications are wrong,” he said.

Delhi BJP president Sachdeva said the BJP will be submitting a complaint on fake voters to the ECI.

“The electoral roll was frozen on December 23, 2024, with the updated voter list set to be released on January 6, 2025. Despite this, applications for new voters have been submitted in every assembly constituency in Delhi. In Narela alone, over 2,000 people applied for new voter registrations on December 24. Similar applications have been observed in various constituencies on December 25, 26, and 27. This is not mere coincidence but evidence of Arvind Kejriwal’s manipulation plan affecting 70 constituencies,” Sachdeva said.

BJP MP Pravesh Verma said: “Kejriwal’s repeated theatrics are nothing new. His baseless allegations about ‘Operation Lotus’ are a clear indication of his insecurity and fear of losing public support. Filing applications for voter addition or deletion is a routine process in any democracy, and to paint this as a conspiracy is laughable,” Verma said.

Challenging Kejriwal to present evidence, Verma said, “If 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.”

In a post on X, the office of Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer said: “The Special Summary Revision with respect to the qualifying date January 1, 2025 is being done as per ECI letter dated August 7, 2024. During the pre-revision period --20 August, 2024 to 18 October, 2024, the BLOs (Block Level Officers) conducted the house-to-house verification to identify the unenrolled eligible citizens and prospective electors, permanently shifted electors /dead electors/multiple entries.”

“The draft electoral roll was published on October 29 calling the claims and objections on draft roll from October 29 to November 28. All the claims and objections received during the period have been disposed by December 24, 2024 and final electoral roll w.r.t qualifying date January 1, 2025 will be published on January 6, 2025. However, the process of continuous updation w.r.t addition, deletion and modification is a continuous activity and same is undergoing now.” the post said.