The Election Commission of India (ECI) recently announced that the Delhi Assembly Elections will be held on 5th February and the results will be out on 8th February. The impending polls have intensified the political tension in the national capital particularly between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the two leading rivals, who are actively engaging in fierce confrontations and are seizing every opportunity to launch attacks and counterattacks against one another.
On 9th January, a delegation from the AAP, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, met with the Election Commission to express their apprehensions concerning purported irregularities in the New Delhi Legislative Assembly elections. The party alleged that there was a notable increase in both voter registrations and deletions for his constituency while claiming that extensive “voter fraud” was occurring. Furthermore, the AAP leader asserted that a total of 13,000 new voter applications had been submitted between the 15th of December and the 7th of January. He also accused the BJP of seeking to eliminate 5,500 entries to sway the voting in its favour.
He asked, “Where did all these people come from in just 15 days? These people are coming from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar as well as neighbouring states to get fraudulent votes registered. We told them about the large-scale voter deletions and suspicious additions to the voter list. We highlighted that this large-scale addition and deletion of votes amounting to 18.5% of the total voter list can completely distort the election process. If such manipulation continues, the election will not be fair but merely a farce.”
दिल्ली में चुनाव के नाम पर स्कैम हो रहा है। बीजेपी बड़े पैमाने पर वोटर लिस्ट में हेराफेरी कर रही है। स्थानीय चुनाव अधिकारियों ने बीजेपी के सामने घुटने टेक दिए हैं।
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 9, 2025
आज चुनाव आयोग से मिलकर शिकायत की है। अगर चुनाव आयोग ने तुरंत कार्रवाई नहीं की तो दिल्ली में लोकतंत्र की हत्या हो… pic.twitter.com/YF6KcvRtwx
“We pointed out that Parvesh Verma in the New Delhi seat is openly distributing money, and health camps are being held with glasses being distributed. He announced on 15th January that job fairs will be held. All of this falls under corrupt practices according to the Election Commission’s rules. Parvesh Verma should be barred from contesting the election and his residence should be raided to find out the extent of his financial resources,” Arvind Kejriwal demanded while adding that the BJP leader has even been tweeting about the same. He asserted that the local Election Commission officials had yielded to the saffron party and were assisting in all the transgressions carried out by them.
He earlier stated, “The Chief Election Commissioner is out, but we met with the other two commissioners. One of the issues we raised was regarding the New Delhi Legislative Assembly. Between 15th December and 7th January, a total of 5,500 vote notices were received to delete names from the electorate roll, in just 22 days. The total votes in this assembly are 1,00,000. This means that 5.5 per cent of the votes were removed in the last 22 days, which clearly indicates some irregularities. There are issues with these applications.”
AAP’s national convenor conveyed, “When the lower officials investigated, the individuals whose names appeared on these applications denied having filed any request and alleged forgery in their names. 89 people had applied for 5,500 applications, and 18 of them came to the Election Commission and denied submitting anything. This means a large-scale election fraud is happening.”
“We are happy that the Election Commission assured us that these corrupt practices will not be allowed to happen and strict actions will be taken. We have faith in the institution. We also requested that the local DEO (District Election Officer) and EROs (Election Registration Officers) should be suspended and transferred from their positions. Yesterday, we submitted an application to them about the voter scam, but they didn’t dare to take any action.” he claimed.
The former Delhi chief minister was accompanied by current chief minister Atishi Marlena, along with her counterpart from Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, and other party leaders.
BJP hits out at AAP
The disparaging comments made about the people of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar were swiftly picked up by the BJP which launched an attack on Arvind Kejriwal and questioned his dual standards, especially concerning the influx of Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in the country. “People from UP-Bihar living in Delhi are phoney for Arvind Kejriwal but are Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators their relatives. Now, don’t need this disaster (aapda),” remarked the in-charge of BJP’s National Information & Technology Department, Amit Malviya.
दिल्ली में रह रहे यूपी-बिहार के लोग अरविंद केजरीवाल के लिए फर्जी! लेकिन रोहिंग्या और बांग्लादेशी घुसपैठिये इनके रिश्तेदार?
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 10, 2025
अब नहीं चाहिए आप-दा… pic.twitter.com/YBAb518vkA
BJP National President JP Nadda expressed, “Arvind Kejriwal, who has been looting Delhi for the last 10 years by creating a disaster of corruption, started fearing defeat and he got agitated and started making baseless statements against our brothers and sisters of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He has insulted our people from UP and Bihar by calling them fake voters. The people of Delhi will definitely give him a reply by uprooting him from power.”
पिछले 10वर्षों से दिल्ली पर आपदा बनकर भ्रष्टाचार का पहाड़ खड़ाकर लूट मचा रहे अरविंद केजरीवाल को अपनी हार का डर सताने लगा तो बौखलाकर उत्तर प्रदेश और बिहार के हमारे भाई – बहनों के खिलाफ अनर्गल बयानबाजी करने पर उतारू हो गये।
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 9, 2025
केजरीवाल ने यूपी – बिहार के हमारे लोगों को फ़र्ज़ी वोटर… pic.twitter.com/KqdRICa7Ct
“Arvind Kejriwal is scared. The fear of losing has gripped him. That’s why he is now using the voter list issue as an excuse. Soon, he will start blaming EVMs for his defeat. Arvind Kejriwal is aware of his declining popularity. His hold over the voters in this area has weakened, and to divert attention, he is making baseless accusations. The people of New Delhi are smart and will not be misled by such claims,” Parvesh Verma, the BJP’s candidate in the New Delhi assembly seat also unleashed a stinging assault on the AAP supremo.
AAP facilitated illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya
The Aam Aadmi Party, which characterizes its fellow citizens as frauds, has a track record of accommodating Bangladeshi and Rohingya intruders in Delhi. “I am Amanatullah Khan Okhla MLA and chariman of Delhi Waqf Board. We have distributed one month ration and Rs 10,000 to each Rohingya family living here,” an old video of the AAP MLA gained traction online last month, exposing how the party aided the illicit occupants. Moreover, he also refused to help the poor people of Sarita Vihar during the COVID-19 lockdown for not voting for him.
AAP supporters even boasted about the extra efforts undertaken by the AAP government in Delhi to improve the conditions of Muslims, including refugees, as highlighted in a viral video from a 2022 gathering in Ahmedabad organized by the “Muslim Fighters Club,” a community-based in Juhapura. The club’s manager, Imranbhai, emphasized that Arvind Kejriwal is the only leader who sincerely cares for the Muslim community.
Villagers from Nanakheri even started a protest against then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the decision to build a residential school for Rohingyas on the premises of the Secondary School in Nanakheri village, in 2022. Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia inaugurated the school for the children of Rohingya Muslims, thereafter triggering the agitation. The locals voiced that they were concerned about the possible rise in crimes in the village if the Rohingyas settled there and informed that the demonstrations had been going on for a long time but the Delhi government didn’t change its decision.
The BJP in 2022 charged that officials from the Kejriwal administration had dispatched numerous letters advocating for the allocation of EWS apartments to “infiltrators.” Adesh Gupta, the president of the Delhi BJP, emphasized that the AAP-led government in Delhi ensured that Rohingyas received adequate food, housing and other facilities, yet it did not even provide electricity connection to the Pakistani Hindu refugees living in a nearby camp.
Similar to his derogatory remarks directed at the residents of Uttar Pradesh, Arvind Kejriwal also targeted Hindu refugees in the previous year. “The audacity of these Pakistanis? First, they infiltrated our country illegally and broke the laws of our country. He should have been in jail. Have they got so much courage that they are protesting and creating a ruckus in our country? After the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), Pakistanis and Bangladeshis will spread across the country and harass people. In the selfish interest of making them their vote bank, BJP is pushing the entire country into trouble,” he stated following the protests by Hindu and Sikh refugees against his overt fear-mongering and trivial political manoeuvres concerning the sensitive matter of CAA.
A 2020 report stated that over 300 Rohingya Muslims illegally settled in Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar locality and are continuing to expand their numbers. It revealed that they were living illicitly across from the cremation site and also took residence on 5.2 acres of land that belonged to the irrigation department of the Uttar Pradesh government. The Khasra number 612 land, valued at crores of rupees, had been grabbed by the illegal Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. According to the report, they enjoyed all government perks. During the lockdown, they had been receiving meals from Amanatullah Khan and the Delhi government. A part of Khan’s Okhla constituency includes Madanpur Khadar.
Regardless of its various antics and assertions, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders tend to disparage their fellow countrymen and Hindus, while simultaneously embracing Muslims outsiders, evidently for the sake of electoral gain. The recent insulting statements about the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh further exemplify the same.
