"Laughable Matter": Minister Hardeep Puri On Arvind Kejriwal's "Fake" Voters' Charge Against BJP

Urging for discretion and terming it laughable, Union Minister Hardeep Puri on Monday dismissed Arvind Kejriwal's charge against the BJP of undermining democracy not just "through vote-buying" but also through "voter list manipulation" ahead of the February 5 Delhi polls.

"We should exercise a little bit of discretion. If in any one household the votes of people working in the house are added for some reason or another, does that change the demographic balance in India or in Delhi. I mean, it is a laughable matter," Mr Puri told NDTV in an exclusive interview.  

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Saturday that the BJP was adding new voters from across the country to the New Delhi constituency using the party MPs' and ministers' addresses to manipulate the electoral roll.

In a letter to the Election Commission, Mr Kejriwal accused BJP leaders of engaging in "backdoor tactics" to tamper with the voter list.

"The BJP is transferring votes from across the country to the New Delhi Assembly using addresses of its own Members of Parliament (MPs) and Ministers." He alleged that 33 votes were reportedly transferred to BJP's New Delhi candidate Parvesh Verma's official residence.

"Are we expected to believe that overnight 33 people from across India have shifted their residence to that of Mr Verma? If so, then he must be disqualified from contesting elections for indulging in corrupt practices," Mr Kejriwal said.

Countering Mr Kejriwal's charge, Mr Puri alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party, in power in Delhi since 2013, is helping Rohingyas by adding them to the voters list of Delhi and attempting to change the demography of the city.

"Their MP was on record saying that they have charged Rs 10,000 to settle Rohingyas. They have taken money to issue Aadhaar cards and then to get them votes," alleged Mr Puri.

The Delhi BJP has released a video in which a Rohingya infiltrator is "himself saying that Rs 10,000, ration, Jal Board water and electricity, everything is being provided by the people of Amanatullah Khan" (AAP MLA).

In a recent operation, the Central Delhi Police detained nine Bangladeshi nationals over the past six days. Seven of the individuals were arrested from a hotel in the Nabi Karim area of Central Delhi.

M Harshavardhan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) for Central Delhi, confirmed the operation and the arrests, highlighting the ongoing efforts of the police to curb illegal immigration and maintain law and order in the region.

The BJP on Sunday hit out at Mr Kejriwal questioning his "silence" over the alleged links of his party MLA Mohinder Goyal to a syndicate facilitating Aadhar and Voter ID cards to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Delhi.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, BJP leader Smriti Irani claimed that the investigation agency had found signatures and seals of AAP MLAs Mohinder Goyal and Jai Bhagwan on Aadhar update forms for 26 illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in the city.

"They (AAP) are a bunch of professional liars. These are not serious issues, let the Election Commission examine it. They are trying to distract from issues," said Mr Puri downplaying the voter list manipulation charges against his party.