'Operation Lotus': Kejriwal accuses BJP of manipulating electoral roll

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of attempting to manipulate voter lists in preparation for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. During a press conference on Sunday, accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Kejriwal claimed these actions were driven by BJP's lack of strong candidates and campaign issues. According to Kejriwal, a significant operation began on December 15 in his New Delhi Assembly constituency, involving 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests. He said that these changes could affect approximately 12 per cent of the constituency's 106,873 voters, as recorded in the October 29 voter list following the summary revision.

"Operation Lotus has now reached my constituency. They are attempting to manipulate the electoral rolls to change the election outcome," Kejriwal stated, referring to an earlier incident where 11,000 voter deletion applications in another constituency were halted following intervention from the Chief Election Commissioner. In response to these concerns, the AAP national convenor has written to the New Delhi District Election Officer (DEO) requesting personal verification of these applications by officials and Sub-Divisional Magistrates in the presence of party representatives. The party has demanded that no deletions be approved without this verification process.

“This kind of manipulation undermines democracy. We appeal to the Election Commission to continue its strict monitoring to prevent such malpractice,” Kejriwal added, emphasising the importance of electoral integrity.

Meanwhile, BJP accused the AAP of trying to register “illegal voters”, fearing defeat in the Delhi Assembly polls. The BJP’s city unit chief Virendra Sachdeva said that his party would not allow “fake votes”.