Delhi elections: Kejriwal alleges BJP transferring votes to manipulate New Delhi constituency electoral roll

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP was adding new voters in the New Delhi constituency from across the country using the party MPs' and ministers' addresses to manipulate the electoral roll ahead of the upcoming elections.

He claimed that the alleged manipulation could alter the constituency's voter composition significantly, calling the practice "even worse than the booth-capturing practices of the past.

In a letter to the Election Commission of India, Kejriwal accused BJP leaders of engaging in "backdoor tactics" to manipulate the voter list.

In the letter, Kejriwal wrote, "The BJP is transferring votes from across the country to the New Delhi Assembly using addresses of its own Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers." He alleged that 33 votes were reportedly transferred to BJP's New Delhi candidate Parvesh Verma's official residence.

"Are we expected to believe that overnight 33 people from across India have shifted their residence to that of Mr Verma? If so, then he must be disqualified from contesting elections for indulging in corrupt practices," Kejriwal said.

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The former Delhi chief minister called for criminal FIRs against those involved in the alleged manipulation, and provided a list of BJP leaders and their official addresses.

"It is inconceivable how such a high number of voters could have suddenly applied to be transferred to these properties without planning by the highest levels of BJP leadership," he said.

Voting for all 70 seats in the state will be done on February 5 and vote counting is scheduled for February 8.

With PTI inputs