Kejriwal writes to poll panel over changes in South Delhi voters’ list
It has come to our notice that lakhs of names have been deleted after last assembly election. Most of the people whose names have been deleted, exist in person. It has been done with malafide intent.
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday wrote to chief election commissioner, OP Rawat, complaining about names of lakhs of voters from the national Capital being deleted illegally from the electoral rolls allegedly “at the instance of BJP”.
Kejriwal sought a meeting with the poll panel’s chief, alleging the names of residents in South Delhi parliamentary seat have been deleted with “malafide” intent ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“It has come to our notice that lakhs of names have been deleted after last assembly election. Most of the people whose names have been deleted, exist in person. It has been done with malafide intent,” Kejriwal said in the letter written on Thursday.
The chief minister said in the letter that the procedure prescribed under law for deletion of names has not been followed in almost all cases, which raises suspicion about the motives.
“A cursory perusal of the deleted names shows that most of these votes belong to either Congress or AAP. Therefore, it is likely that some officers have done it at the instance of BJP with malafide intent to prevent them from voting,” the letter read.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari termed the allegation baseless. “They (AAP) know people will not vote for them. So to hide their incompetence, they are levelling allegations to divert the attention of voters,” he said.
Deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia told media at Delhi secretariat that the instances of deletion of the names of genuine voters came to light after the CM received complaints.
“The chief minister had ordered an enquiry in nine such cases and found that the names were deleted following a door-todoor survey conducted by booth level officers in July. After his (CM) intervention, election officials have acknowledged the mistake and started restoring them in the list,” Sisodia said.
The CM’s letter to the poll panel comes days after AAP’s South Delhi Lok Sabha in-charge Raghav Chadha alleged that 100,000 voters’ names had been struck off from the electoral rolls in South Delhi parliamentary constituency allegedly at the behest of the BJP.
In Thursday’s letter, Kejriwal supported Chadha’s allegation, calling it a “huge scam” with grave implications on democrac. The Delhi CM also urged the poll panel to take “exemplary penal action” against the officers involved.
“We wish to come and meet you to discuss this in detail. Kindly give us an appointment at your earliest convenience,” the CM’s letter said.