BJP asks poll panel to act against AAP for ‘violating’ order

NEW DELHI: BJP MLAS met the chief election commissioner on Wednesday, demanding action against the Delhi government for not following his (EC) order barring the collection of voter identification details of family members of school students.

The BJP also attacked the AAP for levelling “false” allegations against it regarding the deletion of 30 lakh voters from the list in the national capital.

Led by Vijender Gupta, leader of the opposition in Delhi, the Mlassubmittedamemorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure compliance. “We have urged the ECI to seize information and data (Aadhaar and voter ID details) collected by directorate of education through students,” Gupta said.

The government had recently called the ECI order “illegal”. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, “The government will continue asking for voter ID details as long as they are used as address proof.”

The BJP said the information could be used by the AAP for political purposes, especially with Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

“The open defiance of the directions of the election commission of India by the Delhi government is a serious matter and has created a constitutional crisis. The data could be misused for political purposes by vested interests,” Gupta alleged, adding that the AAP was raising baseless allegations.

The BJP also alleged that AAP leaders Pankaj Gupta and Dilip Pandey, party spokesperson and in-charge of northeast Delhi constituency, “did not raise any question regarding the deletion of voters in the meeting held in August at the Delhi chief election commissioner’s office”.

Dilip Pandey said, “The fact is the BJP knows that they are going to lose the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi and, hence, the frustration that makes them remove names of genuine voters. As for the meeting that I attended, it was a presentation by EC officials and the deletion of voters was not on the agenda.”