In a scathing press conference on Saturday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh sharply criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing several of its leaders, including Union Ministers and MPs, of undermining the integrity of the Election Commission through electoral fraud.
Singh alleged that these BJP figures were involved in corrupt practices, such as registering false votes, in a bid to manipulate election outcomes. His first target was BJP’s New Delhi candidate, Parvesh Verma. Singh accused Verma of misusing an MP bungalow, despite no longer holding the position. Verma had reportedly occupied the bungalow from May to January—well beyond the time he was a sitting MP. Singh further revealed that Verma had attempted to register 33 votes at the bungalow’s address, calling it an attempt to distort the election result. “The BJP candidate from New Delhi, Parvesh Verma, is a former MP, not a sitting MP, yet he has been occupying the MP’s bungalow for eight months from May to January. Not only that, he has submitted an application to register 33 votes at the address of his bungalow,” Singh stated.
Singh also accused two Union Ministers of similar misconduct. He claimed that Pankaj Chaudhary, the Union Minister of State for Finance, had filed a request to register 26 votes at his residence, while Kamlesh Paswan, another Union Minister, had made a similar application for 26 votes at his own address. Singh emphasized that these actions were part of a broader attempt by BJP leaders to manipulate electoral processes for their advantage.
The AAP MP didn’t stop at allegations of vote manipulation. In a separate press conference on Friday, Singh accused the BJP of large-scale vote-buying, dubbing the party the “Galli Galoch Party.” He claimed BJP leaders had distributed Rs 1,100 to voters to influence the election outcome. “We have received information from sources that leaders of the ‘Galli-Galoch’ party were given Rs 10,000 each by their party to distribute. Their leaders thought that when there was no chance of winning elections, they should save Rs 9,000 and distribute only Rs 1,100,” Singh alleged. He then challenged the BJP to come clean on the matter, urging the party to clarify the truth. “I ask the ‘Galli-Galoch’ party to tell the truth before people… The people of Delhi need to expose the corruption of the ‘Galli-Galoch’ party now,” Singh insisted.
AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal also weighed in, accusing the BJP of orchestrating widespread electoral fraud in the New Delhi Assembly constituency. Kejriwal claimed that the local election officer had been compromised and was aiding the BJP in its illegal activities. “The local election officer of the New Delhi Assembly constituency has surrendered to the BJP. He is facilitating all the wrongdoings of the BJP… The Election Commission of India (ECI) has assured us that they will not allow these practices to happen and strict action will be taken,” Kejriwal said. He called for the immediate suspension of the District Election Officer (DEO) and Election Returning Officer (ERO) of the constituency.
Kejriwal also drew attention to a suspicious surge in applications for voter registration cancellations in New Delhi. Between December 15 and January 7, a total of 5,500 such applications were reportedly filed. Kejriwal suggested these cancellations were fraudulent and part of a larger scam. “In New Delhi Assembly constituency, from 15 December to 7 January, in 22 days, 5,500 applications have come for cancellation of votes… These applications are fake… A big scam is going on,” Kejriwal said. Many individuals named in the applications had reportedly denied submitting them, further suggesting widespread electoral manipulation.
The allegations of fraud, manipulation, and vote-buying have put the BJP under intense scrutiny, with both Singh and Kejriwal calling for a transparent investigation to uncover the truth.
The Election Commission has yet to address the claims publicly, but both AAP leaders have urged the ECI to take swift and decisive action to ensure fair elections.
