Delhi Assembly Election 2025: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to manipulate the voters’ list in the New Delhi Assembly constituency by deleting over 5,000 names. Kejriwal, who is contesting from the seat, termed the move as part of BJP’s “Operation Lotus.”

Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters, Kejriwal said, “BJP is trying to win this election by any means. BJP neither has any CM face, nor any candidates. Last time, they tried to remove the names of 11,000 voters from another constituency, from where we won the polls by 5,000 votes. If they would have been successful, we would have lost the election. The staff of the election offices had even started working on the deletion but due to the intervention of the Chief Election Commissioner, this was stopped.”

Also Read:Arvind Kejriwal accuses BJP of sabotaging AAP’s ‘Mahila Samman Yojana,’ calls LG inquiry fake

Kejriwal claimed that BJP has been manipulating electoral rolls in his constituency since October 15. “BJP started this ‘Operation Lotus’ from October 15 and in the last 15 days, applications for deleting nearly 5,000 voters have come. Moreover, applications for the addition of 7,500 names have also been received. This is clear manipulation of almost 12 per cent of votes. What is the need of the elections if such kind of activity is going on?, ” he said, adding that similar tactics were used in Haryana and Maharashtra.

In a letter to the Election Commissioner, Kejriwal sought details of individuals who have submitted more than five applications for deleting voter names since October 29. “Specifically, we seek either their EPIC details or copies of Form 7 filed by them. I have enclosed the list of such individuals who have filed more than 5 forms from 29 October to 25 December 2024. Who are these individuals who are so keen to get names of voters deleted at such a large scale? At whose behest are operating? What are their intentions?… To safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, I strongly urge that no further voter deletions be carried out in the constituency unless it is a case of Migration (i.e. Form 8) and a death case…,” Kejriwal added.

Also Read:Congress reading from BJP’s script, alleges AAP, threatens INDIA bloc split ahead of Delhi elections

BJP denies Allegations, hits back

The BJP dismissed Kejriwal’s accusations, countering that AAP itself is manipulating the voter rolls. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva alleged that AAP has added “lakhs of minority voters” to the electoral rolls since the Lok Sabha elections.

“Many Hindu voters living in areas that come under South Delhi, like Kalkaji and Tughlakabad, have made complaints that people from the minority communities are being registered as voters,” Sachdeva said.

The Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February, will see a three-way contest between AAP, BJP, and Congress for 70 seats. With voter rolls under scrutiny, the issue has already added tension to an intense political fight in the capital.