MCD polls: AAP cries foul, claims results manipulated in Ashok Vihar ward
The celebrations and exuberance in the BJP camp over a thumping poll victory in 7 out of 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday, got marred by allegations of electoral fraud, levelled by the rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
New Delhi: The celebrations and exuberance in the BJP camp over a thumping poll victory in 7 out of 12 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Wednesday, got marred by allegations of electoral fraud, levelled by the rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The AAP’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that his party’s candidate Seema Goyal was first declared as the ‘winner’ on the Election Commission (EC) portal but then the results were “reversed” during recounting, making the BJP nominee victorious.
He also shared a purported screenshot of the EC portal to corroborate his charge and claimed that the AAP’s Seema Goyal trounced her BJP rival Veena Asija by a difference of 179 votes. The screenshot showed the AAP candidate polling 8,304 votes while the BJP nominee got 8,125 votes. The allegation of electoral fraud in the recently-held MCD elections is set to spark fresh controversy, as the Opposition parties have been raising allegations of “match-fixing” between the poll panel and BJP to turn the results in the latter’s favour.
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The startling ‘disclosures’ by the AAP’s Delhi chief were also backed by other party leaders who accused the ruling BJP of committing electoral fraud and malpractice to steal the elections. “This is BJP openly perpetrating fraud in the elections in broad daylight. When the Aam Aadmi Party won the 10/10 round by 179 votes, then how was the result changed?” Anurag Dhanda, AAP’s media-in-charge posted on X. Notably, the polling for 12 wards of the MCD was held on November 30. Out of these, 9 were held by the BJP and 3 by the AAP.
The bypolls were held in wards namely Greater Kailash, Shalimar Bagh B, Ashok Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Chandni Mahal, Dichaon Kalan, Naraina, Sangam Vihar A, Dakshin Puri, Mundka, Vinod Nagar, and Dwarka B wards. Elections were necessitated because these seats fell vacant after their councilors got elected to the Assembly. In the recently held bypolls, the AAP retained the same number of wards as held earlier while the BJP managed to win 7. The Congress opened its account in the MCD bye-elections by registering a victory in 1 ward while the AIFB won 1 seat too.
