New Delhi [India], September 20 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has levelled serious allegations against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission (EC), claiming that thousands of AAP supporters' votes were deliberately deleted in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections. According to AAP's Delhi State President, Saurabh Bharadwaj, this alleged vote deletion is part of a larger conspiracy to undermine democracy and manipulate election outcomes.
Saurabh Bharadwaj made these allegations during a press conference on Friday, stating that while people queue up believing their votes form the government, in reality, it is the BJP and the Election Commission working hand in hand to decide the outcome.
According to the AAP official press release, the AAP Delhi unit chief recalled that AAP leaders had repeatedly held press conferences exposing the unconstitutional deletion of votes, with then Delhi Leader of Opposition and AAP leader Atishi writing to the EC demanding action and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal filing a formal complaint.
"Despite dozens of complaints and RTI applications, the EC neither acted nor replied. Instead, it quietly closed the files on this massive conspiracy while openly helping the BJP by targeting opposition leaders on social media," Saurabh Bharadwaj charged, calling it "a systematic and organised loot of democracy," he said.
Speaking at the press conference, Bharadwaj stated, "Yesterday, when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held a press conference, we too held a press conference and explained the conspiracy of vote-chori of dishonesty, fraud and impersonation aimed at getting non-BJP votes deleted."
As per the release, he emphasised that AAP has been raising this for years, "We have been speaking about this for years, and during the February 5, 2025, Assembly elections, we held several press conferences about Arvind Kejriwal ji's constituency and also about Shahdara. All of that is on record."
According to the release, the AAP Delhi unit chief recalled that after AAP raised the matter on Thursday, many people asked why no legal action had been initiated. "Some journalists even asked why we did not pursue legal action. People suggested that like Rahul Gandhi, we should make presentations and show a PPT. But unlike the Congress party, we don't have the budget for grand LED screens. Still, based on suggestions, we have taken colour printouts of the documents so the evidence can be seen," he stated.
He then walked through the documentary record AAP has placed before the EC. "There is a letter dated 5 January 2025, from the then Chief Minister of Delhi, addressed to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. This is not a story; it contains concrete data showing how, in the 15-20 days before 5 January 2025, applications were filed for the deletion of votes in Arvind Kejriwal's constituency. It is recorded that 6,166 deletion applications were filed during that short period. The letter shows that applications were coming in every day.", as stated in the release.
As per the release, Bharadwaj read out the data presented in those documents: "Between 29 October and 15 December 2024, 2,776 deletion applications were filed. On 16 December, there were 234 applications; on 17 December, 298 applications; on 24 December, 1,103 applications; on 25 December, 982 applications; and on 26 December, 989 applications. In short, thousands of applications were filed over these days."
He also described how, during the summary revision of rolls at the end of October, the voter list in Arvind Kejriwal's New Delhi constituency had already been dramatically reduced.
"At the time of the 2020 elections, there were 148,000 voters on the list for this constituency. By the end of October (during summary revision,) that figure had already been reduced by 42,000 voters. Previously, as many as 420,000 votes had been removed from the constituency rolls. Over and above that, an additional 6,166 deletion applications were submitted," he said, as stated in the release.
According to the release, the AAP Delhi unit chief spelt out concrete individual examples recorded in the attached pages: "We have given names and addresses. For example, Tarun Kumar Chautala, an NDMC quarters resident from Khan Market, a Delhi University student, had 85 deletion notices issued in his name, though he has said he never filed any such application. Usha Devi of Gold Market had 22 applications filed in her name; she has said she never filed any such applications. In the same way, many objectors, Sunita Devi, Vipin, Monika, and many others, including Rajkumar, had applications fraudulently filed in their names."
"We have given names, addresses, and the full particulars showing these applications were false. A majority of those targeted actually live there; their votes were put at risk by forged applications," he added.
Bharadwaj said, "On 5 January 2025, then CM Atishi sent a seven-page letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. In that letter, the primary demand was that criminal investigations be initiated in cases where fraudulent identities were being used for voter deletion."
The senior AAP leader emphasised the legal gravity: "If you take someone else's name, impersonate them, commit fraud and initiate the process to get someone's vote deleted, that is a criminal offence. An FIR must follow. A constitutional authority -- the Chief Minister of the National Capital Territory -- put all of this in writing on an official letterhead and asked the EC to act. The letter was detailed and asked for an investigation. No investigation was initiated. After the 5 January letter, a follow-up was sent on 8 January by Atishi, as stated in the release.
"On 9 January, Arvind Kejriwal himself wrote to the CEC on the party's letterhead, again providing detailed information about the fraudulent activity in the New Delhi assembly constituency. On 8 and 9 January the CM again wrote letters with full particulars, asking what action had been taken and whether a criminal investigation had been launched," he added.
Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed to AAP's RTI seeking the EC's internal record and the reply: "Last month we filed an RTI with the CEC asking whether the complaint submitted by CM Atishi on 9 January 2025 had been received, and if so on which date and with what diary entry number. The EC replied that the letter dated 9.01.2025 from the then CM of Delhi, Atishi, to CEC Rajiv Kumar was received by the EC on 9 January 2025."
"What did the EC say when we asked them to provide the name, designation and contact details of the authority responsible for examining, processing and taking action on that letter?" Saurabh Bharadwaj asked, and then quoted the Commission's answer: it invoked exemption under the RTI Act, stating that "disclosure of the said information has no relation with public activity or interest". "Shame on the Government of India, the CEC, and the EC," Bharadwaj said. "A Chief Minister gave a written complaint, with names, addresses, information and evidence, saying vote-deletion is happening and the EC says this is 'personal information' and refuses to disclose who examined and acted on it.", as stated in the release.
He said AAP had further requested copies of internal file notings and communications indicating any action or investigation initiated and any official response prepared and issued by the EC in relation to the letter dated 9.01.2025; the EC refused to provide them, again citing RTI exemption. When AAP asked whether any FIR had been filed in connection with the complaint, the EC replied, "No information available." When asked whether the letter had been forwarded to any other authority, the EC again replied "No information available." When asked for the current status of the file in the EC's official records, the Commission replied that "No action is pending on the part of the Election Commission of India" -- in plain terms, the file has been closed without any action.
Saurabh Bharadwaj also questioned the roles of two successive CECs. "The then CEC Rajiv Kumar and the current CEC Gyanesh Kumar both have suspicious roles. One did not initiate an investigation; the other is now hiding information. I say this with full responsibility. Show this to any reasonable person and they will say this is clearly vote theft -- it is happening openly."
According to the release, the AAP Delhi unit chief affirmed, "This is an organised racket democracy is being looted systematically. Citizens stand in line to vote, believing they are choosing a government of their will, but in reality, governments are being formed at the whims and fancies of a few. The fraud was exposed with solid evidence, and these evidences were formally placed before the Election Commission. Yet, no investigation was conducted. Had a proper investigation been carried out, those responsible for filing mass deletion applications would already have been caught."
Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed out that while Rahul Gandhi had said online deletion applications were being filed, the Commission issued a very quick reply "within half an hour" claiming online deletion is not possible. "Form-7 (the deletion form) is online even today. You can see the form and sign it. The EC's logic that online applications can be filed, but the deletion itself must be done by an officer, and therefore, 'online deletion is not possible' is inconsistent. If one accepts that logic, then online passports, online driving licences, and even online death certificates would be impossible."
The AAP Delhi unit chief asserted, "The EC is acting like a troll on social media -- it has put out statements in such a way as to give ammunition to the BJP troll army so they can discredit an Leader of Opposition (LoP) and dilute the entire issue. That is not the job of a constitutional body. A constitutional authority cannot behave like a social media troll. It is shameful that India's EC is acting like a social media troll and supplying weapons to the BJP's troll army.", as stated in the release.
The release stated that in the conference Saurabh Bharadwaj said AAP will publish all documents on WhatsApp groups and social media handles so that the people can see the truth. "The evidence is with us. The silence of the Election Commission only proves the conspiracy," he said.