The Aam Aadmi Party has levelled allegations of widespread vote theft ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections — linking it to the defeat of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal. The remarks came even as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that an attempt was made to delete the names of more than 6,000 voters from the Aland constituency in Karnataka. The Leader of Opposition had previously levelled charges of systemic deletions amounting to over 100,000 votes across India.
“After the summary revision of the 2025 Delhi elections completed in October 2a024, by then in the New Delhi constituency, the number of voters had already been reduced from 1,48,000 to 1,06,000…The people who sent applications to delete names of voters have denied doing so, and the majority of names proposed for deletion are of those who are still staying here,” said AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj.
‘Fraud and impersonation to delete non-BJP voter names’
He added during press conference on Friday that Kejriwal and Atishi had written to the Chief Election Commissioner on multiple occasions highlighting their concerns. The party also filed an RTI seeking details about any subsequent EC investigation — but was told “the action taken in this matter cannot be shared publicly”.
Bharadwaj alleged that “vote chori took place through fraud and impersonation to delete non-BJP voters’ names”. He also noted that the AAP had repeatedly raised the issue — much before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made waves with similar charges. The AAP leader also noted that their January 5 letter to the CEC called for “criminal investigation… in cases of fraudulent identities being used for voter deletion.”
‘CEC Gyanesh Kumar protecting vote chors’: Rahul Gandhi
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sparked fresh debate this week after accusing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting those who “destroyed democracy” and levelling fresh allegations of vote theft. He cited data from a Karnataka Assembly constituency to allege that votes of Congress supporters were being systematically deleted ahead of elections.
“I am going to make a serious claim about Gyanesh Kumar. I am not saying this lightly, I am the leader of opposition. The CEC is protecting vote chors and the people who have destroyed Indian democracy…I am the leader of opposition and I will not say anything which is not backed by 100 per cent proof…I am someone who loves my country, I love my Constitution, I love the democratic process and I am protecting that process. In Karnataka’s Aland, someone tried to delete 6,018 votes and got caught by coincidence”, he had said.
(With inputs from agencies)