Atishi alleges ‘voter scam’ in New Delhi, BJP hits out

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Atishi on Monday alleged a "voter scam" in the New Delhi assembly constituency, claiming that 10,500 new voters were added in the area in the last few weeks while 6,167 were deleted. BJP said many social organisations were working to remove fake voters and Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims from the electoral roll.

Addressing a joint press conference with the party's Rajya Sabha members Sanjay Singh and Raghav Chadha, the CM asserted that in a constituency of just one lakh voters, adding over 10,000 new names may completely change the outcome. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is contesting his fourth consecutive election from the constituency.

"In the New Delhi Assembly constituency, which has approximately one lakh voters, between Dec 15 and Jan 2, applications for adding 10,500 new voters were submitted. Between Nov 29 and Jan 2, 6,167 applications for voter deletions were submitted, which amount to 5.77% of the total votes in the constituency," Atishi claimed.

"Adding 10% and removing 5.77% of votes is a deliberate attempt to alter election outcomes significantly," she said, alleging that out of the 6,167 voter deletion applications, 4,283 were filed by just 84 people.

"When the Election Commission summoned these 84 objectors for a hearing, the scam was exposed. The objectors denied filing any applications," she claimed.

Atishi said that the role of the election commission in the matter was suspicious and alleged that they have not investigated the matter. "I have written a letter to the chief election commissioner and have asked for time to address our concerns," she said.

Singh alleged that an application was filed to delete the name of his wife, Anita Singh, from the electoral roll. In a post on social media platform X, Kejriwal also claimed that large-scale fraud was taking place in voter additions and deletions. "Delhi CM Atishi has written a letter to CEC presenting evidence and seeking time to meet," he wrote on X.

Responding to the AAP accusations, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the civil society of Delhi was trying to make the city free of fake and fraudulent voters.

"Any political party opposing the removal of fake votes will be ousted by the people of Delhi. Delhiites are actively working to remove fake, fraudulent, shifted, and deceased votes, and many social organisations are focusing on removing the votes of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims," Sachdeva said.