AAP Versus BJP As Vote Theft Row Erupts Over Delhi Election

The political storm over "vote theft" has flared up once again in the national capital, with Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP during the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections. The row comes as Delhi readies for its upcoming Special Intensive Revision or SIR, for voter rolls, placing electoral credibility at the centre of the political debate again.

AAP Revives 'Vote Chori' Allegations

At a press briefing, AAP's Delhi chief Saurabh Bhardwaj said the party's repeated warnings to the Election Commission earlier this year were ignored. "The Election Commission is doing 'vote chori' in collusion with the BJP," he said.

AAP's former Chief Minister Atishi wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner on January 8 and 9 demanding action, but there was no response. On January 9, Arvind Kejriwal also wrote, flagging fraud in New Delhi constituency.

"Last month, we even filed an RTI asking what investigation or action was taken on those letters. The Election Commission replied that the action taken 'cannot be shared publicly'," the AAP leader said.

AAP leaders argue that the relocation of government quarters, demolition drives, and mass shifting of families were used as cover to alter voter rolls in New Delhi constituency, where BJP's Parvesh Verma defeated Arvind Kejriwal in one of the most high-profile contests of 2025.

BJP Hits Back

The BJP has dismissed the allegations as political theatrics. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva declared that AAP was refusing to accept ground realities.

"Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Saurabh Bhardwaj, and Satyendar Jain are suffering from phobia. If Kejriwal had actually visited these areas, he would know how many government quarters were vacated, demolished, rebuilt, and how many families shifted," he said.

"If those who moved wanted voter IDs, they could have applied, even AAP workers could have helped. Instead, they are crying foul today. If they really have proof, let them file an affidavit with the Election Commission instead of making noise in press conferences," he added.

Vote Chori Politics- the National Debate 

While Delhi remains the immediate flashpoint, the issue of alleged "vote chori" has already become massive political row on a national level. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accused the BJP of colluding with the Election Commission to manipulate voter lists on a large-scale in several states.

Mr Gandhi claimed that in Karnataka, over one lakh votes were "stolen" in the Mahadevapura assembly segment during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He alleged irregularities such as duplicate entries, invalid voter IDs, misuse of registration forms and deletion of names. 
Mr Gandhi has also described the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls as "institutionalised chori," suggesting it is designed to disenfranchise voters leaning towards the Opposition.

The Election Commission has called these allegations "deplorable" and "baseless," while the BJP had dismissed them as the Opposition's way of explaining electoral defeats.