Delhi HC seeks Bansuri Swaraj's response on AAP's Somnath Bharti's plea challenging her Lok Sabha poll win

New Delhi [India], August 14 : The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj's response to a plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti challenging her victory in the Lok Sabha election from the New Delhi constituency on grounds of alleged 'corrupt practices'.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has ordered to remove Raaj Kumar Anand, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate, from the list of parties, who was also made respondent in the case. Anand was alleged by Somnath Bharti to have been set up by the BJP to assist Bansuri Swaraj in winning against Bharti.
The court stated that Bharti's contention was unsubstantiated because Raaj Kumar Anand received only 5,269 votes, and even if all of those votes had gone to Bharti, he would still have lost to Bansuri Swaraj. The court while order to remove Anand's name said no valid cause of action was found against Anand, leading to his removal as a respondent in the case.
One of the other respondents, the Returning Officer, opposed being included in the case, arguing that he was neither a necessary nor a proper party under Section 82 of the Representation of the People Act. The Returning Officer expressed a desire to address the release of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) during the election petition's pendency. Consequently, the court scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to specifically address the issue of releasing the EVMs and VVPATs.
The Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora has issued a notice to Bansuri Swaraj, directing her to file a response within a 30-day period.
Somnath Bharti through Advocate KC Mittal sought direction from the court to the concerned Returning Officer, calling for records pertaining to the elections held in the New Delhi parliamentary constituency elections held on May 25, 2024.
The plea stated that the petitioner (Somnath Bharti) contested the election to the House of the People from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency in the election held on May 25, 2024, by the Election Commission of India and was declared lost by the Returning Officer, while Bansuri Swaraj was declared the winner on June 4, 2024.
It further stated that the petitioner secured 3,74,815 votes and the Bansuri Swaraj secured 4,53,185 votes, as per the returning officer.
Raaj Kumar Anand, though a candidate set up by the Bahujan Samaj Party, was in reality set up by Bansuri Swaraj's party to help her against the petitioner because Raaj Kumar Anand was a minister in the Aam Aadmi Party's government in Delhi and was active in campaigning for the petitioner till April 9, 2024, and suddenly on April 10, 2024, he resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party. He resigned from his ministry because of the misuse of agencies like ED, CBI, and IT against him, the petition claimed.
The petition further claimed that on inquiry, Raaj Kumar Anand revealed that he was under tremendous pressure from the investigating agencies and hence had no option but to resign or else he would be arrested. On May 6, 2024, Raaj Kumar Anand filed his nomination as an MP candidate from the New Delhi Parliamentary Constituency on the ticket of the Bahujarn Samaj Party, the plea added.
In line with the practice adopted by the Bahujan Samaj Party across India, Raaj Kumar Anand was set up by the party of Bansuri Swaraj to help her win by cutting into the votes of the candidate of INDIA Alliance. He secured 5629 votes, as per the Returning Officer. On July 10, 2024, Raaj Kumar Anand formally joined the BJP, i.e., the party of Bansuri Swaraj, confirming the real intent of Raaj Kumar Anand's leaving AAP, i.e., the party of the petitioner.
There are many people who have noticed some BJP workers distributing money and materials like saris and suits to some residents of the locality. They were going from door-to-door and cross-checking the house number of voters residing in the said house with the electoral rolls that they were carrying. The said persons, after satisfying themselves about the voters in each house,, were marking the names in the electoral rolls, plea alleged.
Bharti further claimed that the entire campaign of the BJP and Bansuri Swaraj was religious in nature and votes were sought on the prohibited lines, i.e., lines of religion. Speeches of Bansuri Swaraj reveal that she spoke a language in her speeches, which is to divide the voters on the line of religion.