New Delhi:

Over 1.55 crore Delhi voters will vote in the Assembly election on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8, the Election Commission announced today. Delhi has 70 Assembly constituencies, 12 of them reserved. A total of 13,033 polling stations will host the election for choosing members of the eighth Delhi Assembly.

According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the polling will be held in a single phase. The last date to file nominations is January 17 and withdraw candidates is January 20. With the announcement of the schedule, the model code of conduct is now in force in the national capital.

Announcing the schedule at a press meet, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said over 2 lakh youngsters will vote for the first time in this election. Announcing several initiatives to make the voting experience smooth, the poll body said arrangements would be made for the elderly and persons with disabilities to access polling booths without difficulty. It also said those above 85 years can cast their vote at home.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal asked party workers to go all-out in their preparations. “Even the biggest systems fail before your passion. You are our greatest strength. This is an election between the politics of work and the politics of abuses. We will surely win,” he said in a post on X.

BJP president welcomed the announcement of the poll dates. “I appeal to the people to choose a government that contributes to creation of a developed Delhi. BJP is committed to Delhi’s all-round development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

During the press conference, the Chief Election Commissioner also dismissed allegations of manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). He said EVMs are tamper-proof and hacking them is impossible. “EVMs are not hackable. Every claim of manipulation has been thoroughly investigated and debunked. This technology has consistently upheld the principles of free and fair elections,” Mr Kumar said.

The poll body also responded to allegations of manipulation of voter lists. Both the AAP and the BJP have accused each other of getting names added and deleted from voter lists to boost poll prospects. Mr Kumar said the Election Commission rigorously follows due process for any change in voter lists.

While the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is pushing hard for a third consecutive term in this election, the Opposition BJP has gone all out to turn the tables. Also in the fight is the Congress, which is going alone and targeting both the BJP and the AAP — its ally during the Lok Sabha polls.

New Delhi:

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the BJP of orchestrating large-scale deletions of voters’ names from the electoral rolls in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly elections.

Kejriwal claimed that BJP leaders had submitted applications to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to remove thousands of voter names from constituencies like Shahdara, Janakpuri, and Laxmi Nagar.

Citing the example of Shahdara, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP had applied to delete 11,018 voter names from the constituency.

“When we randomly checked 500 of these names, we found that 75 percent of the people are still residing at the listed addresses. This is nothing but an attempt to manipulate the electoral process,” he said.

The AAP leader connected the alleged deletions to the saffron party’s narrow victory in Shahdara during the 2020 Assembly elections, where AAP won by a margin of just 5,294 votes.

He argued that removing 11,000 voters — about 6 per cent of the total electorate in the constituency — could significantly affect the outcome.

Meanwhile, the district magistrate of Shahdara refuted Kejriwal’s claims in a post on X, stating, “Only 494 Form 7 (deletion application) requests have been received in the Shahdara constituency since October 29, 2024. The claim of 11,018 deletion requests is factually incorrect.” To support his allegations, Kejriwal presented several individuals at the press conference, whose names he claimed were targeted for deletion.

“These voters are alive and continue to live at the same addresses listed on the voter rolls. For instance, Upendra Kumar resides at A-334, Uma Devi at B-8 Ambedkar Nagar, and Sunil Kumar at B-326,” he said.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva dismissed Kejriwal’s allegations as “baseless” and accused AAP of shielding fraudulent voters.

“Rohingyas and Bangladeshis are being caught, and Kejriwal is panicking because this vote bank, funded by money he allegedly receives from foreign sources, is being exposed,” Sachdeva said.

“The greatest strength of Indian democracy is free speech, but the baseless comments made against constitutional institutions need to be examined.” Kejriwal also accused the ECI of “secretly processing deletion requests without transparency.” He called for all deletion applications to be published on the ECI website and demanded a halt to deletions initiated after October 18.

There was no immediate response from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer regarding the allegations.

Terming the voter deletions a “conspiracy to disenfranchise citizens,” Kejriwal said, “The BJP knows it is losing the elections, which is why it is resorting to such unfair tactics.” He warned of legal action against officials involved in any irregularities.

The Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February, are crucial for AAP, which is seeking a third consecutive term after securing a landslide victory in 2020, winning 62 out of 70 seats.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in his petition to the Supreme Court seeking an extension of his interim bail by seven days, has alleged that he suffered medical complications due to the callousness and negligence of Tihar Jail authorities. 

Mr Kejriwal, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam, has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court until June 1, allowing him to campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, he is required to surrender and return to jail on June 2, just after the final phase of polling.

The Delhi Chief Minister’s legal team claimed that he suffers from an aggressive form of ‘diabetes mellitus’, which is characterised by volatile blood glucose levels, leading to episodes of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. 

“The appellant (Arvind Kejriwal) suffers from an aggressive form of diabetes mellitus, which is very volatile and undergoes a wide range of wild swings in blood glucose, including episodes of high sugar, that is, hyperglycaemia and low sugar, that is, hypoglycaemia,” the petition reads. 

“The appellant suffered a lot of health-related complications which is also partly attributable to the negligent and callous behaviour of the jail authorities,” it added.

During his time in custody, Mr Kejriwal allegedly lost 6-7 kg, a weight loss he has been unable to recover despite resuming his previous lifestyle post-release, his lawyers have claimed. Additionally, he has allegedly experienced periodic episodes of giddiness, palpitations, and overwhelming lethargy.

Mr Kejriwal’s lawyers said in the petitions that recent medical evaluations detected unusually high blood glucose and ketone levels, suggesting potential kidney damage and other complications. According to the lawyers, a doctor from a private hospital, who conducted an examination of Mr Kejriwal at his residence on May 25, has recommended a series of comprehensive medical tests to diagnose these issues accurately.

The prescribed tests include a whole-body PET-CT scan and a Holter Monitor Test to detect irregularities in heart function. These tests are to be conducted over a span of five to seven days. Mr Kejriwal’s plea stresses the necessity of early detection and intervention to prevent the progression of potentially fatal diseases.

The Supreme Court’s vacation bench, comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and KV Viswanathan, today acknowledged the urgency but said that the decision should be referred to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud.

The bench questioned why Mr Kejriwal’s application was not mentioned earlier before a vacation bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta, who was part of the bench that had reserved the verdict on Kejriwal’s petition on May 17. Mr Kejriwal’s legal team, spearheaded by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi responded that he had no objection if the application was considered for a virtual hearing before Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. 

Mr Kejriwal’s legal troubles stem from allegations of corruption and money laundering associated with the Delhi government’s now-scrapped liquor policy for 2021-22. Despite several summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), culminating in his arrest on March 21, Mr Kejriwal maintains that his detention was illegal.

The ED has issued multiple summons since October 2023, with the investigation focusing on the alleged financial irregularities and illicit benefits from the liquor policy. Mr Kejriwal’s arrest followed the Delhi High Court’s refusal to grant him protection from arrest.