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The Delhi BJP held a protest on Friday against AAP for allegedly making “fake” claims regarding registration of voters from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the electoral rolls ahead of Assembly polls.
Earlier on Friday, AAP had accused the BJP of conducting large-scale voter manipulations, particularly in the New Delhi constituency. According to AAP, over 13,000 new voters were added between December 15 and January 8, many allegedly from neighboring states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
In a formal complaint to the Election Commission, Kejriwal raised concerns over applications for these new voters.
Addressing the media after lodging the complaint, Kejriwal said, “Apparently many of these voters have been brought in from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other neighbouring states to create fake voter registrations. This manipulation undermines the election process.
The party also alleged a systematic effort to delete names of their supporters from the rolls, labeling the practice as “election fraud.”
These led to protests by the BJP near Kejriwal’s residence.
The protesters holding placards, such as “Purvanchal Virodhi Kejriwal (Kejriwal against Purvanchal)” raised slogans against AAP supremo, with some attempting to breach the security barricades near the former Delhi chief minister’s residence.
Slogans such as “Litti chokha khayenge, Kejriwal bhagayenge (will drive away Kejriwal)”, “Chhathi Maiya ki jai”, and “Purvanchal Virodhi Kejriwal murdabad (down with anti-purvanchal Kejriwal)” echoed during the protest.
The protesters, comprising BJP supporters, aimed at pitting people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who are called Purvanchalis, against the AAP for their allegations.
BJP IT cell chief, Amit Malviya, accused Kejriwal of spreading misinformation out of fear of losing his constituency.
BJP leaders, including MP Manoj Tiwari, have criticised AAP for what they call a deliberate insult to Purvanchali voters.
“Arvind Kejriwal has always insulted the Purvanchali community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he made several objectionable statements, and now he has referred to them as ‘fake voters’. We will not forget this insult, and neither will the people of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar. This betrayal will remain etched in the memory of Delhiites as well,” Tiwari said.
Delhi chief minister Atishi, in her recent letter to the chief election commissioner, said that “between December 15 and January 2, people submitted applications to add 10,500 new voters to the New Delhi Assembly constituency.”
She feared adding 10,000 new voters in a constituency with one lakh voters would “completely alter the election outcome”.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh had also claimed that the BJP tried to delete his wife’s name from the electoral rolls amid alleged deletion of Purvanchali voters in Delhi.
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar responded to the controversy on Tuesday, stating that voter deletions or additions cannot occur without proper documentation, field verification, and hearings.
The popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee waded into the controversy on Thursday.
Rathee added fuel to the fire with his latest video, claiming voter list tampering wasn’t isolated to Delhi.
In his video, the YouTuber who stays in Europe, mentioned the case of siblings Farah and Rubeena Khan’s, who stay In Delhi’s Khajuri Khas. The siblings discovered their names missing from voter lists during the Lok Sabha 2019 polls, despite voting regularly in past elections
The ‘fake’ voter controversy follows the “Sheesh Mahal” row, which saw AAP defending itself over the Rs 33.66 crore renovation of Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence.
The Delhi Assembly election, scheduled for February 5, is seen as a critical test for both AAP and BJP. The counting of votes will take place on February 8.
