Derecognise AAP for voter deletion claim: BJP to Election Commission

In a five-page complaint, the party submitted instances of tweets and statements by AAP leaders, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, regarding the deletion of names.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Delhi unit on Monday requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to derecognise the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over its allegations about the deletion of names from Delhi voters’ list.

A delegation of BJP leaders — including state unit chief Manoj Tiwari (in photo) met the chief election commissioner on January 21, 2019, with a request to derecognise the Aam Aadmi Party. (Sonu Mehta/HT File)

The AAP hit back at the BJP, saying the party was “completely rattled” as it realised that it was going to face a humiliating defeat in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

A delegation of BJP leaders — including state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, and leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, — met the chief election commissioner and said AAP was spreading “false propaganda about the deletion of names from the voters’ list”.

In a five-page complaint, the party submitted instances of tweets and statements by AAP leaders, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, regarding the deletion of names.

“The allegations being levelled by AAP are with ulterior motives to degrade the reputation of the Election Commission to gain cheap political mileage in the upcoming elections,” the BJP’s complaint read.

Raghav Chadha, AAP’s national spokesperson and the party’s candidate from South Delhi, said Muslims, Purvanchalis and Baniyas had been “hurt” by the “mass voter deletion” as the city is home to lakhs of migrants too.

“AAP has been substantiating all its allegations on voter deletion with adequate proof. We have released constituency-wise names of voters who have been cut out of the list. The revised electoral list released by the state election office vindicates our stand. The Delhi CEO had clearly stated the number of voters have decreased by 1.19 lakh in a year, at a time when the population has been on a constant rise,” Chadha said.

The BJP leaders said “the allegation levelled by AAP… had very serious implications”.

Tiwari, member of Parliament from north-east Delhi, said, “We have demanded stern action against AAP leaders. Besides, the party should be derecognised and their election symbol be seized so that these people can be stopped from endangering the unity and integrity of the country and vitiating the atmosphere of the society.”

Gupta said, “Deletion and addition of votes is made under a legal process by the Election Commission but Kejriwal considers himself the Election Commission and never misses any opportunity to make baseless and illogical statements.”