BJP trying to manipulate voter list in Delhi, says Arvind Kejriwal

AAP national convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scathing attack on the BJP on Sunday, accusing the party of attempting to manipulate the voter lists, and also claimed that 'Operation Lotus' has been going on since 15 December in his Assembly constituency.

Kejriwal alleged that the BJP lacks a chief ministerial candidate, vision, or credible plans and is resorting to dishonest tactics to secure a win, jeopardising Indian democracy.

"They don’t have a CM face, no vision and no credible candidates. They only want to win the elections by any dishonest means, putting Indian democracy at stake. But the people of Delhi won’t let this happen," said Kejriwal.

He highlighted voter deletion issues in the Shahdara constituency, where the BJP allegedly submitted applications to remove 11,008 voters. "We won from that constituency. If those votes were cut, it would have caused significant problems for us. Thanks to the chief election commissioner for intervening and preventing this," he said.

Kejriwal also alleged that "Operation Lotus" began in his own New Delhi constituency on 15 December. "In 15 days, they submitted applications to delete 5,000 voters and add 7,500. My constituency has 1,06,000 voters, so they are trying to delete 5 per cent and add 7.5 per cent. If 12 per cent of the votes are manipulated, what's the point of elections? This is blatant tampering in the name of democracy."

The Election Commission conducted a summary revision of the voter list from 20 August to 20 October, releasing an updated list on 29 October.

"For context, a summary revision was conducted in Delhi from 20 August to 20 October, during which the Election Commission's machinery verified voters door-to-door. They corrected or updated the list based on this exercise, and on 29 October, the Election Commission released the revised voter list after completing the summary revision," said Kejriwal.

"If the BJP believes that 12 per cent of votes are inappropriate, it raises questions about the Election Commission's report," he added.

He further revealed that out of 500 deletion applications verified, 408 individuals were found residing at their addresses, making the requests suspicious. Kejriwal named individuals such as Sarvesh Kumar, Vishal, and Pawan Kumar Singh as being involved in orchestrating these efforts.

"Deletion of valid citizens' voting access is unconstitutional. The law states that if voter deletion requests exceed 2 per cent in any Constituency, they must be verified personally by the Electoral Registration Officer," he said.

Accusing the BJP of distributing money to voters, Kejriwal added, "I explained to people that taking money is not right, but they told me, 'We will take money from them but vote only for you.' The public is very clever."