Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has raised serious concerns about a “large-scale” fraud involving voter additions and deletions in the New Delhi Assembly constituency.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Kejriwal referred to a letter sent by Delhi Chief Minister Atishi to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi, highlighting the alarming rise in voter alterations in the area.
The letter, written by CM Atishi, urges the Delhi CEO to address what she perceives as a concerning surge in voter addition and deletion applications.
Atishi specifically pointed out that between October 29, 2024, and January 2, 2025, a staggering 13,276 Form-6 applications, related to voter additions, were submitted.
Additionally, 6,166 Form-7 applications, which relate to deletions, were also received within the same period. According to the Delhi CM, these figures reveal a significant change in the electorate for the New Delhi constituency, which has raised suspicions of potential irregularities in the process.
Atishi further outlined that the total number of voters, as per the draft electoral rolls published on October 29, 2024, stood at 1,06,873. Of this, the number of deletions being sought was 6,166, which represents approximately 5.77 per cent of the total electorate.
In accordance with electoral rules, if more than 2 per cent of the total voters are marked for deletion, a field verification of each deletion request is required to ensure its legitimacy.
The Delhi CM, in her letter, alleged that these prescribed verification rules were not being followed. According to her, the Election Registration Officer (ERO) has not conducted the necessary field visits to verify these deletion requests.
She cited an example of the ERO’s visit on December 27, 2024, to the H Block Type 1 Kali Bari and Kali Bari Jhuggi areas, which she claimed was insufficient and lacking in proper verification.
Despite numerous reminders, both oral and written, the ERO had allegedly failed to carry out thorough checks and verification of the deletion requests.
Instead, Atishi claimed the ERO had proceeded with deletions without complying with the necessary rules, citing the difficulty of physically verifying a large number of deletions.
The issue is of particular concern as the Delhi Assembly elections are scheduled to take place in February 2025. In the previous 2020 Delhi elections, AAP had secured a landslide victory, winning 62 out of the 70 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to secure only eight.
With such a significant number of voter deletions potentially taking place, the AAP leadership fears that this could influence the outcome of the upcoming elections.
In response, Kejriwal and Atishi have demanded that the Election Registration Officer (ERO) strictly follow the rules set out for voter deletion, particularly ensuring proper field verification before proceeding with any deletions.
These allegations have raised questions about the transparency and integrity of the voter list updates, especially with the looming elections.
Follow us
