Parvesh Verma hits back at Arvind Kejriwal: 'Gripped with fear of...'

Parvesh Verma, the BJP's candidate in the New Delhi assembly seat, reacted to Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal's allegations about discrepancies in the voter list, saying the AAP supremo was gripped by the fear of electoral defeat.

Parvesh Verma said Arvind Kejriwal would soon start blaming the electronic voting machines for his defeat.

"Arvind Kejriwal is scared. The fear of losing has gripped him. That's why he is now using the voter list issue as an excuse. Soon, he will start blaming EVMs for his defeat," he said.

The former BJP MP, who will face Arvind Kejriwal in the electoral battle in the New Delhi seat, said the former Delhi CM's hold over the voters in the constituency had diminished, reported ANI.

"It is clear that Arvind Kejriwal is aware of his declining popularity. His hold over the voters in this area has weakened, and to divert attention, he is making baseless accusations. The people of New Delhi are smart and will not be misled by such claims," the BJP leader said.

Arvind Kejriwal attacked Parvesh Verma

Kejriwal today met two election commissioners and alleged issues in voting lists in the New Delhi seat.

"The chief election commissioner is out, but we met with the other two commissioners. One of the issues we raised was that in the New Delhi Legislative Assembly, between December 15 and January 7, a total of 5,500 votes were registered in 22 days. The total votes in this assembly are 1,00,000. This means that 5.5 per cent of the votes were registered in the last 22 days, which indicates some irregularities. There are issues with these applications," Kejriwal told reporters.

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"When the lower officials investigated, the individuals whose names appeared on these applications denied having submitted any request to cut votes. 89 people had applied for 5,500 votes, and 18 of them came to the Election Commission and denied submitting any applications. This means there is a large-scale election fraud happening," he added.

The AAP chief also accused Verma of distributing money in the constituency. He asked the poll panel to bar him from contesting the Delhi election and raid his house.

Arvind Kejriwal said that the Election Commission assured them that "strict action" will be taken against any "corrupt practices".