AAP alleges BJP, EC 'conspiracy' behind vote deletion in Delhi polls; BJP slams it for SIR 'phobia'
New Delhi (PTI): The AAP on Friday alleged that the Election Commission did not furnish information on its complaints of deletion of large number of votes of party supporters in Delhi Assembly polls held earlier this year, a charge rubbished by the polls panel.
Multiple letters written by former Delhi chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi, as well as RTI queries over deletion of votes, remained unanswered by the EC, AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed in a press conference.
The EC in a post on X shared a copy of its reply to AAP over vote deletion and said, "With reference to the PC held by Saurabh Bhardwaj today, it is stated that the ECI sent a detailed reply of 76 pages consisting of seven annexures, including reports of CEO/DEO, on 13.01.2025 to Ms Atishi, the then CM of Delhi."
In another post, the poll body said Atishi sent a letter dated January 5, 2025, to the ECI in a matter related to addition and deletion in electoral rolls of 40 New Delhi Assembly constituency segments.
Another letter from her was received on January 9 on the same issue, it said.
A defiant Bharadwaj in a post on X sought a copy of the FIR for "impersonation, fraud" for illegally trying to delete names of valid voters and manipulating the electoral process.
He alleged that an "organised syndicate hijacked" free and fair elections.
"If you are waiting for an affidavit, I am ready to sign the affidavit and submit. We are not scared of frivolous prosecution by government," he said.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that ever since the chief electoral officer of Delhi announced a special intensive revision (SIR) of the city's electoral rolls, the AAP leaders have developed a "phobia".
"The AAP leaders fear that the fake voters nurtured and converted into a core vote bank by previous governments in Delhi will now be exposed. The BJP forcefully raised the issue of bogus voters during the Assembly elections, and the outcome of that effort is visible to all," Sachdeva said.
In the press conference, Bharadwaj alleged that the EC is "openly helping" the BJP by targeting the opposition leaders on social media while ignoring "vote fraud".
"People stand in queues believing their votes form governments but it's the BJP and the EC that are forming governments together," Bharadwaj alleged.
The BJP ended AAP's political dominance in Delhi, winning 48 of the 70 Assembly seats in the city to form the government in February this year.
Prominent AAP faces, including party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Bharadwaj himself, lost their seats.
Sachdeva, meanwhile, challenged Bharadwaj and AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, to file a formal complaint with the Election Commission along with an affidavit if they thought their allegations carried any weight.
"If you believe they were your voters, you should have ensured their names were on the electoral rolls," he said.
Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP "conspired" for deletion of thousands of votes belonging to AAP supporters.
"During the summary revision of rolls at the end of October 2024, the voter list in Kejriwal’s New Delhi constituency dramatically reduced. There were 1.48 lakh voters in the constituency when Assembly polls were held in 2020. However, in the Assembly polls held in February this year, the number of voters went down by 42,000," Bharadwaj claimed.
“Despite dozens of complaints and RTI applications, the EC neither acted nor replied. Instead, it quietly closed the files on this massive conspiracy," Bharadwaj claimed, alleging "systematic and organised loot" of democracy.
Then-chief minister Atishi wrote to the chief election commissioner on February 5, regarding applications filed for deletion of votes in Kejriwal’s constituency.
As many as 6,166 deletion applications were filed, he claimed.
Before this, Atishi wrote a seven-page letter to the chief election commission demanding a probe into the matter.
Kejriwal himself wrote to the CEC on January 9 and again on January 8 and January 9 with all the particulars, asking what action was taken and whether a criminal investigation was launched, Bharadwaj said.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
