On Friday, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of orchestrating widespread deletions of voters’ names from the electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
He claimed that BJP leaders had submitted requests to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove thousands of names from constituencies including Shahdara, Janakpuri, and Laxmi Nagar.
Kejriwal highlighted Shahdara as an example, alleging that the BJP had sought to delete 11,018 voter names from the constituency.
Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP leader, accused the BJP of manipulating the electoral process by orchestrating large-scale voter deletions ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. He claimed that in a random sample of 500 voter names, 75% of the people were still residing at the addresses listed, calling it an attempt to influence the election results.
Kejriwal connected these alleged deletions to the BJP’s slim victory in Shahdara during the 2020 elections, where AAP lost by just 5,294 votes. He argued that removing 11,000 voters—about 6% of the constituency—could greatly affect the outcome.
The Shahdara district magistrate countered Kejriwal’s claims, stating that only 494 requests for voter deletions had been received since October 29, 2024, and that the figure of 11,018 deletions was incorrect. Kejriwal presented several individuals whose names he said were unjustly targeted for deletion, insisting they were still living at the same addresses.
Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi BJP president, dismissed Kejriwal’s accusations as unfounded and accused AAP of shielding fraudulent voters. He suggested Kejriwal was worried about the exposure of vote banks funded by foreign sources.
Kejriwal also criticized the Election Commission of India (ECI), claiming the deletion requests were being processed secretly. He demanded that all deletion applications be published on the ECI website and called for a halt to deletions initiated after October 18.
There was no immediate response from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer regarding the allegations. Kejriwal described the voter deletions as a “conspiracy to disenfranchise citizens” and accused the BJP of using these tactics because they feared losing the elections. He warned that legal action would be taken against any officials involved in irregularities.
