On Saturday (25th January), the Home Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghavi, fact-checked the former Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, after he questioned the deployment of Gujarat police personnel for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
Kejriwal’s rant on X against the deployment came days after the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered the removal of police personnel from Punjab deployed for Kejriwal’s security.
In his post, Sanghavi pointed out that it is a routine practice for the ECI to use forces from other states in poll-bound states to maintain law and order during voting.
Kejriwal questioned the deployment of Gujarat police personnel
In a post on X in Hindi, Kejriwal shared an order from the Additional Director General of Gujarat Police, which mentioned the deployment of eight units of police personnel at polling booths in Delhi. In his post, Kejriwal wrote, “Read this order of Gujarat Police. The Election Commission has removed Punjab Police from Delhi and deployed Gujarat Police. What is going on?”
गुजरात पुलिस का ये आदेश पढ़िये। दिल्ली से चुनाव आयोग ने पंजाब पुलिस हटाकर गुजरात पुलिस तैनात कर दी है। ये चल क्या रहा है? pic.twitter.com/Q6c9WwuSaL
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 25, 2025
BJP leaders debunk lies of Kejriwal
The Home Minister of Gujarat, Harsh Sanghavi, quoted Kejriwal’s post and stated that the request to deploy police units came from the ECI and that similar requests were sent to other states for poll deployment in Delhi.
In his post, Sanghavi, while suggesting that he now understands why Kejriwal is called a liar, said, “Kejriwal ji, as a former Chief Minister, I’m surprised you’re not aware of the Election Commission’s norms. They’ve requested forces from various states, not just Gujarat. In fact, the Election Commission of India has ordered SRP deployment from various states, a routine procedure. As per their request, 8 companies of SRP from Gujarat were sent to Delhi for the scheduled election on 11/1/25.”
मुझे अब समझ आया कि लोग आपको झांसेबाज क्यो कहते है!!
— Harsh Sanghavi (@sanghaviharsh) January 25, 2025
Kejriwal ji as a former Chief Minister, I'm surprised you're not aware of the Election Commission's norms.
They've requested forces from various states, not just Gujarat. In fact, the Election Commission of India has ordered… https://t.co/2hLvhwYuF6 pic.twitter.com/cvdsVqvUHp
With the post, Sanghavi shared relevant documents that stated there would be the advance deployment of 70 companies of Central Armed Police Forces by 8th January 2025 for area domination, confidence-building measures, conduct of flag marches, surveillance, etc., during the elections.
The fax message came from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Principal Secretary (Home) of the Delhi government and added that it had been decided to deploy an additional 75 companies of CAPFs/State Armed Police/India Reserve Battalions for the conduct of safe, free, and fair assembly elections in Delhi.
Furthermore, 65 companies of various State Armed Police (SAR) or India Reserve (IR) Battalions were requested: 10 each from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand; 8 each from Chhattisgarh and Gujarat; 7 each from Maharashtra and Karnataka; and five from Rajasthan. In total, around 14,500 personnel will be on poll duty in the national capital, as suggested by the document shared by Sanghavi.
Other BJP leaders, including IT Cell Chief Amit Malviya and Shehzad Poonawalla, also countered Kejriwal.
In his post, Malviya wrote, “Is this your first election or are you nervous about losing the election? It is standard practice to deploy state police forces alongside CAPF for election duties. Even for Delhi elections, police forces from 12 states and union territories, including Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra have been mobilised. Additionally, Punjab Police was withdrawn from your personal security. It is worth noting that you and Delhi are not synonymous.”
Is this your first election or are you nervous about losing the election?
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 25, 2025
It is standard practice to deploy state police forces alongside CAPF for election duties. Even for Delhi elections, police forces from 12 states and union territories, including Karnataka, Himachal… https://t.co/2fejlTVcWj pic.twitter.com/B14XMTb4OW
In a post quoting Kejriwal, Poonawalla said, “stop lying” and shared document proving police personnel have been called from different states and not just Gujarat.
झूठ बोलना बंद कर! https://t.co/S7ZMsRqu7a pic.twitter.com/n55OA6Lab9
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) January 25, 2025
Punjab police deployment for Kejriwal’s security removed
On Thursday (23rd January), the Punjab Police alleged that they had been forced to withdraw the additional security provided to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. They claimed that the Delhi Police and the Election Commission of India had issued them the orders to do so ahead of the Delhi state assembly elections scheduled to take place on 5th February this year.
The Punjab Police claimed that they constantly get reports of threats to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and that they share such reports with concerned agencies, however, now they have withdrawn a component of security from Kejriwal’s security detail.
Responding to these claims, the Delhi Police clarified that no security component for Kejriwal was withdrawn. “We’ve just taken over the charge. He already has been provided with Z+ security with 63 personnel by Delhi officials,” the officer from Delhi Police said.
“Occasionally, we get reports of threats to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal and share them with the concerned agencies. Today, after the Delhi Police’s intervention following the directions of the Election Commission, we have withdrawn Punjab security from Arvind Kejriwal’s security cover. We will continue to share inputs with Delhi Police,” Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav from Punjab Police was quoted as saying.
Voting will take place for Delhi Assembly elections on 5th February 2025 in a single phase and results will be announced on 8th February.
