New Delhi:
The AAP and the BJP engaged in a war of words on Saturday over the recently-released electoral roll. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleged "mass" deletion of names to favour the BJP and demanded the Election Commission explain "net decrease" in the electoral roll of 2019. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back, saying the list showing an increase of 9.8 lakh voters as compared to 2014 exposed the "lies" of the AAP and its chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The AAP accused the BJP of being involved in "mass deletion" of names of voters of specific communities fearing defeat in the coming Lok Sabha election.
"There is a decrease of about 1.2 lakh voters since January, 2018. This clearly vindicates the AAP's claim that the BJP has orchestrated and engineered the biggest ever voter deletion fraud against the people of Delhi," said party spokesperson and South Delhi Lok Sabha seat in-charge Raghav Chadha.
The BJP is "completely rattled" sensing a "humiliating defeat" in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he alleged.
The BJP's Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari said Kejriwal should stop "politics of falsehood" and face the next election on the basis of his government's achievements.
"The people will decide whether he is fit for being re-elected even after betrayal of the people. It is a slap on the face of AAP and its leaders who have been claiming 30 lakh voters' names have been deleted."
The office of Delhi Chief Electoral officer(CEO) Friday said the voters in national capital increased by 7.78 per cent in 2019 as compared to the last Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
However, there has been a decrease of 0.87 per cent votes as compared to the last final electoral roll, which was released on January 10, 2018.
"The Election Commission must publicly address how there has been a net decrease in the electoral rolls despite an increase in population of persons eligible to be voters," Chadha demanded.
The AAP has been alleging that names of around 30 lakhs voters particularly Purvanchalis, Muslims and those from trader community have been deleted from the electoral roll since the 2015 assembly elections in Delhi.
"BJP has indulged in systematic mass deletion of voters targeting specific communities like Muslims, Purvanchalis and Baniyas because their policies have greatly hurt these communities, economically and otherwise," Chadha alleged.
Electoral rolls are constantly being updated, but this is the first time ever that the net change in the number of voters is negative, which indicates that there is "unusual activity" and that the electoral roll is being "tampered" with on a "large-scale", he charged.
"BJP in collusion with officers from the Election Commission has orchestrated targeted and wrongful deletion of 30 lakh voters from Delhi and now their scandal is reflecting in the official Election Commission data," he alleged.
