Arvind Kejriwal Meets Poll Body, Claims Names Deleted From Voter List

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal met the Election Commission today over the alleged deletion of names from the voters’ list. Assembly election is due in Delhi early next year and Mr Kejriwal, who did not get back to his Chief Ministerial post after his return from jail, has thrown himself into election-related work.

Mr Kejriwal said he has submitted 3,000 pages of evidence to the Commission that shows the BJP is making a massive efforts to remove the votes of the genuine residents of Delhi.

“We demanded that this mass deletion be stopped… We have received assurances from Election Commission three or four times that forms will be given, field inquiry will be conducted for the deletion of names,” he told the media after the meeting.

The Commission, he added, had assured that if one person is applying for more than five deletions, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate would go for field inquiry.

Earlier today, AAP alleged that mass deletions of names are happening in areas that are the party’s bastions, including RK Puram, from where 3,800 names could be deleted. 

Last week, Mr Kejriwal had alleged that the BJP has sought the deletion of the names of 11,000 voters — most of them bona fide — in the Shahdara assembly constituency, 

The BJP and the Election Commission have brushed away the allegations, calling them baseless. 

The BJP has claimed the actions of AAP chief betray his nervousness and a growing fear of defeat in the coming  election. 

AAP has twice swept the assembly elections in Delhi, riding on its education and healthcare models and free power and water schemes. But there is concern that the corruption allegations against its leaders, including Mr Kejriwal and his close aide Manish Sisodia could affect the party’s chances in the coming election.

Yesterday, Mr Kejriwal had met veteran leader Sharad Pawar to form a strategy to handle the issue of Electronic Voting Machines. The Opposition has attributed its crushing defeat in Maharashtra to EVMs, alleging that they had been hacked.