Somnath Bharti Challenges BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj’s Lok Sabha Win In Delhi High Court
On Saturday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti moved the Delhi High Court to challenge the election of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of late Sushma Swaraj, from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. In the recently concluded general elections, the BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital.
The AAP leader alleged that Swaraj and her election agent indulged in “corrupt practices” during the Lok Sabha elections.
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“The petitioner secured 3,74,815 votes, and [Ms.] Swaraj secured 4,53,185 votes as per the returning officer,” said the plea. When the national capital headed to the polls on May 25, Bharti saw Swaraj’s booth agents showing pamphlets with her ballot number, election symbol, photo, and photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi while asking people to vote for her, as per the plea.
The petitioner also claimed that, despite reporting the incident to the returning officer, no action was taken.
Further, Bharti’s plea alleged that the BJP MP’s expenses surpassed the allowed expenditure, Rs 95 lakh per candidate, for the Lok Sabha election. The plea stated that Swaraj had transferred money from her personal expenditure accounts to the BJP’s, which is a “flagrant violation” of the provisions under the Representation of People Act, 1951.
The plea also mentions Raaj Kumar Anand, a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from the constituency of New Delhi, who was allegedly “set up by the party of Ms. Swaraj to help their candidate.”
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A minister in the AAP government in Delhi, Anand actively campaigned for Bharti till April 10 before abruptly resigning. The plea claims that Anand resigned from the party under pressure from central agencies like ED, CBI, and IT being used against him by the Returning Officer and the BJP after contesting elections as a BSP candidate.
“Mr. Anand revealed that he was under tremendous pressure from the investigating agencies and hence had no option but to resign else he would be arrested,” added the plea.
A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Monday, July 22.
