Gave 3,000 pages of proof on voters’ deletions, EC assured due diligence: Kejriwal
New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by its National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday met the Election Commission and presented a 3,000-page document as evidence on the alleged deletion of voters’ names from the electoral rolls ahead of the forthcoming Assembly elections in the national Capital. He raised concerns over a "conspiracy" to forcibly delete voters' names in Delhi Assembly constituencies and was assured of due diligence by the poll panel. “We have presented documents of 3,000 pages before the Election Commission and raised our concerns on voters’ name deletion from the electoral rolls. These voters are mostly poor people, Dalits and slum dwellers whose names are being deleted. We have presented the complete data before the Election Commission,” Kejriwal said.
He also wrote to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Rajiv Kumar, alleging large-scale irregularities in applications for voter deletion. Citing an example from the Shahdara Assembly constituency, Kejriwal stated, “It has come to our knowledge that in the past six weeks, the BJP submitted applications to delete 11,018 voters on the grounds of relocation or death. However, these lists are being modified without being uploaded on the Election Commission’s website.” According to Kejriwal, as of December 5, only 487 deletion applications from Shahdara were displayed on the Commission’s website. This discrepancy raises questions about the remaining applications and the transparency of the process. Kejriwal further alleged that the AAP conducted its own verification by visiting 500 randomly-selected addresses from the BJP's list. The investigation revealed that 372 of these voters were still residing at their registered addresses. Kejriwal urged the Election Commission to reject the BJP's applications for deleting the 11,000 voter names and called for an FIR against the Booth Level Agents (BLAs) involved. He also demanded disciplinary action against election officials in Shahdara who allegedly processed these applications without due diligence process or public disclosure. Kejriwal expressed concerns that similar actions might be taking place in other constituencies. He called for an investigation into all voter deletion lists submitted by BLAs, insisting they be made public and FIRs lodged against those violating election rules. He mentioned some of the alleged malpractices across Delhi in the letter and shared data from other Assembly segments. Kejriwal said that in Janakpuri, 24 BJP workers applied to delete 4,874 votes; in Tughlakabad 15 BJP workers filed applications to remove 2,435 voters; in Palam 9 BJP workers sought to delete 1,641 voters; in Rajouri Garden 6 BJP workers filed to remove 571 voters; in Hari Nagar 4 BJP workers sought deletion of 637 votes; in Karawal Nagar 2 BJP workers applied for the removal of 3,260 votes; in Mustafabad a BJP official applied for 534 voter deletions.
Kejriwal called the alleged activities a systematic attempt to disenfranchise voters and undermine the democratic process. He said that the ECI assured him that there would be no mass deletion before the elections. Their officers will go and look into the issue and if someone has applied to delete votes of more than five people, the SDM will visit the spot and inspect. Kejriwal said the ECI also assured him that an FIR will be registered against those who are deleting voters' names fraudulently.
