Poll body orders probe into AAP’s MCC violation claims against BJP’s Parvesh Verma

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Jan 9 asked its Delhi chief electoral officer (CEO) to probe Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) complaints against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Parvesh Verma and allegations of additions and deletions in the electoral roll of the New Delhi Assembly seat.

The directive by the poll body came after a delegation of AAP, led by Chief Minister Atishi and party convenor Arvind Kejriwal, met with the commissioners of the poll body.

The AAP leaders urged them to bar Verma from contesting elections for organizing job camps, distributing money, and handing out eyeglasses at health camps, and also the distribution of campaign materials and monetary incentives under a Har Ghar Naukri ((jobs in every household) scheme in brazen violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The CEO of Delhi was asked to ascertain actual facts and take immediate appropriate action per the MCC provisions, electoral laws and ECI guidelines.

The ECI also asked the CEO to submit an action report.

Kejriwal and Verma are contesting from the New Delhi seat in the Febr 5 poll.

After the meeting, Kejriwal told reporters, “Our main concerns were irregularities in voter deletions, suspicious additions to the voter list, violation of model code of conduct by BJP candidate Parvesh Verma, and collusion by local election officials.”

He alleged that in the New Delhi constituency, of a total of one lakh voters, over 5,500 have been removed from the electoral rolls in the last three weeks. “…applications for deletions (submitted) are fraudulent. During a hearing by lower-level election officials, people whose names have been deleted have denied having submitted such applications.”

Kejriwal also alleged that around 13,000 new voters have been added to the constituency.

“Where did these 13,000 people come from in just 15 days? This is a clear indication that fake voters are being registered, likely brought in from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,” he said.

Meanwhile, the district election officer in a post on X said that field investigation did not prove any such allegation and that preventive measures were also taken. Further, the election officer also addressed allegations of illegal additions and deletions, saying “mere filling of form 7 and form 6 doesn’t amount to addition or deletion of names from the electoral roll.”

BJP's Verma hit back at Kejriwal, accusing him of making "baseless accusations."

“It is clear that 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,” Verma said.

Specifically, the New Delhi assembly constituency will be a triangular contest between Kejriwal, Verma, a former West Delhi MP and the son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma, and Congress’s Sandeep Dikshit, the son of former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit.