New Delhi, Jan 2: AAP MP Sanjay Singh and Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva on Wednesday engaged in a war of words over deletion of voters from the electoral roll ahead of the polls in the national capital.
Singh accused the BJP of attempting to delete the names of voters from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar residing in Delhi. The saffron party is targeting “our Purvanchali brothers, calling them Bangladeshis and Rohingyas”, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP.
By Purvanchalis, Singh was referring to people from eastern UP and Bihar who have been settled in Delhi for decades and form a significant portion of the city’s voters.
Sachdeva hit back, alleging that AAP is “conspiring” to delete the votes of not only the poor but also prominent citizens of Delhi, including a top naval officer and the son of former vice president Hamid Ansari.
He claimed that information had come to light about attempts to remove the votes of a vice admiral of the Navy, Lok Sabha secretary general and the son of India’s former vice president.
According to Sachdeva, the alleged conspiracy by AAP is aimed solely at undermining the credibility of the Election Commission.
On the other hand, Singh addressed a press conference here and claimed, “The BJP is targeting our Purvanchali brothers, calling them Bangladeshis and Rohingyas and working to delete their votes. I will not stay silent. I will fight this injustice on the streets and in Parliament.”
Singh alleged that BJP leaders in several areas, including Shahdara, Janakpuri, Palam, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad, have submitted applications to delete the votes of Purvanchalis.
“In Shahdara alone, 11,000 Purvanchali votes were targeted for deletion. Similarly, in Janakpuri, 24 BJP workers applied for the removal of 4,874 votes. In Tughlakabad, applications were made to delete 594 votes,” he said.
He further alleged that in Palam, nine BJP workers filed requests to remove 1,641 votes, while in Rajouri Garden, six BJP workers sought the deletion of 571 votes.
Earlier, the BJP accused the ruling AAP of aiding illegal Rohingya immigrants and Bangladeshis in settling in Delhi by providing them with official documents and using them as a vote bank.
Singh emphasised the importance of protecting the voting rights of Purvanchalis and said, “These UP-Bihar brothers, who have been living in Delhi for decades, have contributed immensely to the city’s development over the last 30-40 years. These tactics to suppress their voices are unacceptable.”
During the press conference, he also referred to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the “Bharatiya Jhutha Party”, saying, “When we exposed the BJP’s tactics, they accused the Aam Aadmi Party of increasing and deleting votes unfairly. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has written a letter to our CM (Atishi). I am surprised they still have the audacity to talk about farmers.
“They ignored farmers and the MSP (minimum support price) law is still not implemented. Because of this party, farmer leader Dallewal ji is on strike. It is also because of them that farmers in Maharashtra are being forced to commit suicide,” the AAP MP said. (PTI)
