Delhi HC to hear AAP’s Somnath Bharti plea against BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj’s LS poll win on Aug 13

New Delhi [India], July 22 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday fixed August 13 for hearing a plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti against BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj’s win in the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The plea challenged the election of Bansuri Swaraj as a member of Parliament from the New Delhi Lok Sabha Constituency on grounds of alleged ‘corrupt practices’. The Bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora on Monday adjourned the matter for August 13, after noting that the petition copy has some typographical errors and a corrected petition has to be filed.

Somnath Bharti had sought direction from the court to the concerned Returning Officer, calling for records pertaining to the elections held in the 04-New Delhi parliamentary constituency elections held on May 25, 2024.

The plea moved 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 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), 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.

Many people have noticed some BJP workers distributing money and materials like saris and suits to some residents of the locality. They were going 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, the plea alleged.

Bharti further claimed that the entire campaign of the BJP and Bansuri Swaraj was religious 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.