Arvind Kejriwal demands EC to bar Parvesh Verma from contesting Delhi assembly polls: 'Find out how much money he has'

Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday, i.e., January 9, met with senior Election Commission (EC) officials and demanded that his nearest rival and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Parvesh Verma be barred from contesting Delhi assembly polls. 

The AAP supremo accused the BJP leader of "openly distributing money" to voters and asked the poll panel to raid his house to disocover "how much money he has".

"The BJP candidate in the New Delhi Assembly constituency, Parvesh Verma, is organising job camps, openly distributing money... These things come under corrupt practices under the rules and regulations of the Election Commission... Parvesh Verma should be barred from contesting elections and his house should be raided to find out how much money he has at his house", Arvind Kejriwal stated after meeting with EC officials. 

Reiterating his "fake voters" allegation, Kejriwal added, "In the New Delhi Assembly constituency, from 15 December to 7 January, in 22 days, 5,500 applications have come for cancellation of votes...These applications are fake...When the officials took cognizance of the matter, the people in whose name applications for cancellation of votes were given were called. They said that fake applications had been given in their name... A big scam is going on... In the last fifteen days, 13,000 applications have come for new votes... Fake votes are being created by bringing people from other states", as quoted by news agency ANI. 

What are the charges levelled by Arvind Kejriwal?

Ahead of the Delhi assembly polls, the AAP supremo has alleged that the BJP asked its 7 MPs in the national capital to create "fake votes", as reported by Hindustan Times. 

Earlier this month, Arvind Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP had been attempting to delete voters' names in the electoral rolls in the New Delhi assembly constituency, from where the former Delhi CM is set to content the elections. 

However, the claims were dismissed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar. He stated, "Indian voters are extremely aware... Stories are going around regarding electoral rolls, even now. Almost 70 steps are there...in which political parties and candidates remain with us. All the claims and objections that come up are shared with all the political parties. No deletion can be done without Form 7". 

The national capital is set to undergo polls on February 5, with the vote counting scheduled to be held on February 8.