Kejriwal accuses BJP of manipulating electoral roll
New Delhi (PTI): AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday accused the BJP of trying to manipulate voter list in the run-up to the Delhi Assembly elections.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Kejriwal claimed the BJP was trying to win elections through "unfair means" after failing to present strong candidates or issues.
"BJP has already lost the elections. They don't have a chief ministerial face or even proper candidates. They only aim to win through manipulation, but we won't let them succeed," Kejriwal said.
The former Delhi chief minister also alleged that the BJP had filed 11,000 voter deletion applications in one constituency alone, but the move was halted at Chief Election Commissioner's intervention. "We exposed this, and thankfully, it was stopped."
Kejriwal said that a large-scale operation began on December 15, with 5,000 voter deletion applications and 7,500 addition requests filed so far in his assembly constituency, New Delhi.
He claimed this could alter 12 per cent of the constituency's votes.
The total number of voters in the constituency, he said, is 106,873, as per the voter list published on October 29 after the summary revision, which was conducted between August 20 and October 20.
"Operation Lotus has now reached my constituency. They are attempting to manipulate the electoral rolls to change the election outcome," Kejriwal alleged.
"This kind of manipulation undermines democracy. We appeal to the Election Commission to continue its strict monitoring to prevent such malpractice," he said.
The BJP is yet to respond to the allegations.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
