Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 20: The political storm over alleged “vote theft” has reignited in the national capital, with Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP during the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls. The row coincides with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, placing electoral credibility back in the spotlight.
At a press briefing, Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bhardwaj alleged that repeated warnings to the Election Commission were ignored. “The Election Commission is doing ‘vote chori’ in collusion with the BJP,” he said. Bhardwaj added that letters from AAP leaders Atishi and Arvind Kejriwal in January flagging fraud in the New Delhi constituency went unanswered. An RTI filed by AAP later revealed that the action taken “cannot be shared publicly.”
The party claimed that the relocation of government quarters, demolition drives and mass shifting of families were used to manipulate voter rolls in the constituency where BJP’s Parvesh Verma defeated Kejriwal in a high-profile contest.
The BJP dismissed the allegations as political theatrics. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said AAP was refusing to accept ground realities. “If those who moved wanted voter IDs, they could have applied. If AAP really has proof, let them file an affidavit with the Election Commission instead of making noise in press conferences,” he countered.
The controversy has also spilled onto the national stage. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission to manipulate voter lists across several states. Citing Karnataka’s Mahadevapura segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he alleged over one lakh votes were “stolen” through duplicate entries, invalid IDs and name deletions, calling the ongoing SIR an “institutionalised chori.”
The Election Commission has rejected all such charges as “deplorable and baseless,” while the BJP says the Opposition is merely looking for excuses for its electoral setbacks.