New Delhi:

The Delhi High Court on Monday pointed out several mistakes in AAP leader Somnath Bharti’s petition challenging BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj’s election in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on grounds of alleged corrupt practices, and asked him to file a corrected one.

Justice Manmeet PS Arora said at the outset that there were a lot of typographical errors which made it difficult to understand the averments in the petition.

Even the reference to respondents in the petition did not correlate with the respondents mentioned in the memo of parties and synopsis, the counsel said.

The court gave Mr Bharti 10 days to file a corrected petition and listed the matter for further hearing on August 14.

When Mr Bharti’s counsel urged the court to issue notice to the respondents on the petition, the judge said, “There are too many mistakes. Correct the petition first. I can’t issue notice like this. I will simply adjourn it. Please file a corrected petition.”

Both Mr Bharti and Ms Swaraj contested from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

While Mr Bharti secured 3,74,815 votes, Ms Swaraj got 4,53,185 votes as per the returning officer, the plea said.

The petition, filed under Sections 80 and 81 of the Representation of the People Act, alleged corrupt practices by Ms Swaraj, her election agent, and other persons.

The plea also alleged that former AAP minister Raaj Kumar Anand contested the election on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket to help Ms Swaraj by cutting into the vote share. Later, on July 10, he joined the BJP, the plea said.

It said Mr Anand was a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and was active in campaigning for Mr Bharti till April 9 and suddenly resigned from the party on April 10.

On election day, the petitioner was shocked during his visits to booths across the constituency to see that Ms Swaraj’s booth agents had pamphlets displaying her ballot number, photo, election symbol and photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “was showing the same to the voters who had lined up in the booth to vote and asking them to vote for Ballot no.1”, the plea claimed.

“…such an act certainly qualifies to be a corrupt practice. This was also reported to the respondent no. 3 (returning officer) but all in vain,” it alleged.

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

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New Delhi:

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday asserted that the BJP-led central government accomplished in 10 years what the Congress could not do even in 60 years of its rule. Addressing a poll meeting in support of BJP’s West Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Mr Gadkari asked people to vote for BJP if they want pollution-free air and water in the national capital.

“This election, in its truest sense, is for deciding the future of the country. I can tell you what the Congress could not do in 60 years, we did it in 10 years under Modiji. We have come to you with our report card,” he told the gathering.

Praising Sehrawat, he said if people support her, she would work towards development.

“Choose the lotus symbol and the BJP. If you want to see India becoming a ‘vishwa guru’, the world’s third-largest economy and want Delhi to be free from water pollution, noise pollution and air pollution, you should choose BJP. If these three things happen, the life span of Delhiites will increase by 10 years,” he said.

Mr Gadkari said the country does not lack money but honest leaders. “Only under an able leadership will the country prosper,” he added.

Talking about Delhi, he said that if the air pollution issue is addressed, the people’s medical bills will see a reduction.

“Even if I stay in Delhi for three days, I develop infection. There are problems in Delhi — traffic jams, pollution and lack of cleanliness. Nobody thought about addressing these issues in 60 years but only our government thought about Delhi,” he said, highlighting various projects in the national capital funded by the central government.

At another poll meeting in Moti Nagar in support of the party’s New Delhi constituency candidate Bansuri Swaraj, the former BJP chief asserted that India is changing because people gave opportunity to an honest leadership.

Remembering her mother and BJP the late Sushma Swaraj, he said she treated him like her younger brother.

“She stood behind me like a rock. I have two sisters and I consider Sushma ji my third sister. She did great work as Union external affairs minister. She is no longer with us.

“Bansuri is not standing in the polls just because she is Sushma ji’s daughter. Bansuri is educated, knowledgeable, has a vision, is polite and can strengthen your voice and solve your problems,” he added.

BJP National President J P Nadda held a road show in South Delhi Assembly Constituency in support of BJP candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant also joined the campaign trail in Delhi.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Bansuri Swaraj, the youngest BJP Lok Sabha candidate in Delhi, said the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance is based on “self-interest” and will not impact the prospects of her party which will retain all seven parliamentary seats in the city.

In an interview with Press Trust of India, the daughter of the late BJP veteran Sushma Swaraj, said the slogan “Abki Baar 400 Paar (This time, 400-plus seats)” is not just a catchphrase but a resolve that will be translated into reality with the help of dedicated BJP workers and the support of the people.

The 40-year-old BJP nominee for the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency said, “There will be no impact of the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi. We are running a very positive campaign, going among the people with a report card of 10 years.”

“The Narendra Modi government did what it said. All promises made in the manifesto, be it removing Article 370, construction of Ram temple or bringing legislation for 33 per cent reservation for women in state assemblies and Parliament, were fulfilled,” Bansuri Swaraj said.

She is one of the two women candidates fielded by the BJP in Delhi. The party is vying for a clean sweep on all seven seats in the national capital for the third time in a row.

Ms Swaraj claimed the “AAP-Congress alliance is based on self-interest”.

“When there is politics of self-interest, both ‘Rastradharma’ and ‘Rajdharma’ are sacrificed. So, this alliance will not survive,” she said.

The Aam Aadmi Party is fighting the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat as part of its seat-sharing deal with the Congress. It has fielded Somnath Bharti from the seat.

Ms Swaraj said that she has been receiving a lot of affection from the people while campaigning in the New Delhi constituency. The BJP candidate said that she does not like sitting on a stage and giving speeches.

“Instead go among the people and communicate with them,” she told news agency PTI.

“I must have done good deeds in my past lives that I found a mother like Sushma Swaraj. I have imbibed the ‘sanskar’ I got from her. I believe that in this new chapter of my life, I have her blessings. The affection people have for her is showered on me when I go amidst them,” Bansuri Swaraj said.

The BJP candidate said that while campaigning, she was witnessing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity among the masses, his determination to fulfil promises and the vision of “Viksit Bharat”.

“The unfathomable trust of the people in PM Modi can be seen surging now,” she said.

About the chances of the BJP’s victory in Delhi, Swaraj asserted people of the city have “absolute trust” in Prime Minister Modi’s development policies and his guarantees. “It is an assurance of good governance. That is why the people of Delhi will give all seven seats (of the city) to the BJP.”

Sharing her vision for the New Delhi constituency, Swaraj said she would make all possible efforts, including taking legal recourse, to ensure that the Modi government’s welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, stalled due to “selfish politics” of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, reach the people of Delhi.

“This is one important issue that I will raise after winning the election,” she said, adding that she would try to set up a start-up hub in Delhi that will also aid in women’s empowerment.

Ms Swaraj said the hub may also have a section for self-help groups of women and it would focus on entrepreneurship.

For women’s safety, she advocated leveraging technology. “I will try to push for the use of drones by Delhi Police that will prove to be a major step for women’s safety.”
 

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