Kejriwal questions ECI’s integrity, alleges BJP plot to trim Delhi voters list

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): Alleging a conspiracy involving the Election Commission of India and the BJP, AAP National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday claimed large-scale deletion of names of his party’s supporters from electoral rolls ahead of Assembly polls. Addressing a press conference, the former CM threatened to take legal recourse, give representation to the ECI to restore the basic voting rights of people and foil the BJP’s alleged nefarious designs. “We have been told by BLOs that the EC has given them lists forwarded by the BJP for deletion of names from electoral rolls of each constituency,” said Kejriwal, claiming that a BJP insider had tipped him off about the wrongdoings.

“There is a threat to democracy. A voter has the right to cast a vote and pick a government of its choice as mandated by B.R. Ambedkar, but the EC is blatantly deleting names of voters based on applications given by the BJP,” said Kejriwal, adding that names of 11,000 voters from Shahadara constituency were being removed and there was no information about the exercise on the ECI website. The AAP leader alleged the illegal deletion of names from electoral rolls was being carried out even after the end of a two-month summary revision exercise of the ECI which ended on October 18.

“This wrongdoing is a clear indication of the BJP conceding defeat before the election. The BJP has turned the city into a ‘Gangster Capital’ and people are fed up with the party. The BJP is afraid of voters who want to defeat it and teach a lesson,” Kejriwal said. Cautioning Booth Level Officers and Assistant Returning Officers against joining the ECI-BJP conspiracy of illegal deletion of voters’ names, Kejriwal said, “I am requesting BLOs and AROs that you will face action because you are the final signing authorities. Governments come and go but it is the officials signing the document who will be held responsible.”

He threatened that the AAP would seek action against allegedly tainted BLOs and AROs under provisions of the Representation of Peoples Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Kejriwal claimed that the ECI’s reputation is at stake as it has not uploaded details about the names of 11,000 voters’ being deleted from the electoral list in Shahdara constituency from where the AAP won the last election by a margin of 5,200 votes. The former CM also paraded residents of Ambedkar Camp in Shahdara constituency who claimed that their names had been illegally removed from the electoral rolls. Kejriwal alleged that people are visiting slums and asking voters about the party they plan to vote for. “If a voter says AAP, his name is struck off the electoral list,” he alleged.

The AAP convener claimed similar deletion of voters’ names was being carried out in other constituencies also. He said in Janakpuri 6,247 names had been deleted, in Sangam Vihar 5,862, R K Puram 4,285, Palam 4,031 and Dwarka 4,013 voters names had been deleted. New AAP joinee Jitendra Singh Shunty, who is tipped to fight the election from Shahdara, alleged deletion of a voter’s name can be done only if he or his family files Form 7 with the ECI and not on the basis of an application filed by any political party. “By cutting the names of voters’ from the rolls, they want to deny them benefits of basic welfare schemes,” he alleged.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha also claimed, “The BJP has conceded defeat and does not want a free and fair election.” He alleged the BJP is following the formula that the number of deleted voter names should be two or three times more than the AAP’s victory margin in a constituency in the last election. Former Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that the BJP’s plan to deny voting rights to residents was taking the nation back to the colonial era. Elections to pick a new 70-member Delhi Assembly are scheduled to be held in January-February.