Kejriwal alleges BJP manipulating votes, BJP hits back

Kejriwal accuses BJP of vote manipulation in Delhi, alleging money distribution and voter deletions. BJP dismisses his claims as political frustration

New Delhi: AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has written a letter to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, alleging distribution of money and deletion of names of Purvanchali and Dalit voters by the BJP ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls.

The BJP has hit back at Kejriwal, saying his letter to Bhagwat is a reflection of his “political frustration” and “fear of defeat” in the polls due next month.

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The war of words between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi has heated up, with prominent leaders from both sides trading barbs on various issues.

Kejriwal has sought Bhagwat’s clarification on reports that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will campaign for the BJP in the Delhi election.

“There have been media reports suggesting that the RSS will campaign for votes for the BJP in the Delhi elections. Is this true? Before this, people wish to know whether the RSS endorses the recent wrongful actions taken by the BJP,” he has written in his letter to Bhagwat.

The AAP convenor has raised several questions in his letter dated December 30, asking if the RSS supports money being “openly distributed” by BJP leaders to “buy” votes and “large-scale” deletion of names of Purvanchali and Dalit voters by the saffron party.

This is the second letter written by Kejriwal to Bhagwat in recent months. In a previous letter to the RSS chief in September, the former Delhi chief minister had trained guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, questioning the politics pursued by the party.

The BJP has accused the AAP and Kejriwal of helping illegal Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis stay in Delhi with documents and money, to use them as vote banks in elections.

The polls to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are due in February. Kejriwal has alleged that efforts are being made for mass deletion of votes of people, including Purvanchalis, Dalits and slum dwellers, and asked Bhagwat whether the BJP is not “weakening” the country’s democracy in this manner.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva has hit back at Kejriwal, saying he is “creating drama since Delhi people seek answers from him over his lies, opportunism and failure to meet their hopes of development and reforms”.

Sachdeva has asked Kejriwal whether he sought Bhagwat’s permission before receiving funds from “dubious entities” in the United States and Canada, and enrolling illegal Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshis as voters in Delhi.