The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notices to Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Parvesh Verma on pleas challenging their election in the recent Assembly polls in the national capital, PTI reported.

The plea challenging the election of Atishi, the former chief minister, alleged that she had used corrupt practices, including creation of fake videos to damage the BJP’s image and misused official resources for her campaign, The Hindu reported.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader had “misused her official position of power to subsidise her electioneering campaign and expand her reach to voters by using official vehicles and governmental employees to canvas for her support”, The Hindu quoted the petition as saying.

The plea also quotes alleged confessions of Aam Aadmi Party workers who said that “fake videos” were created on Atishi’s instructions.

Atishi had defeated BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri in the Kalkaji constituency.

On February 4, on the eve of polling, the Delhi Police registered a first information report against Atishi for allegedly violating the Model Code of Conduct and obstructing public servants on duty.

The code is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission that candidates, political parties and the government must follow during an election. It sets guardrails for campaigning, speeches, meetings and other aspects of the polls.

Atishi was found with 50 to 70 supporters and 10 vehicles at Fateh Singh Marg in Delhi, in violation of the poll code, the police had claimed.

Atishi had responded to the case by alleging bias on the part of the poll panel. She alleged that no action was being taken against members of Ramesh Bidhuri’s family for allegedly “violating the code of conduct”.

The police later registered a case against Ramesh Bidhuri’s son Manish based on her complaint, ANI reported.

The plea against Verma was filed by a person claiming to have been prevented from filing his nominations for the polls, PTI reported.

Verma, who became a Delhi minister on February 20, had defeated Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency.

Petitioner Vishvanath Agarwal has sought that the election result in the New Delhi seat be annulled and fresh polls be held.

Agarwal had claimed that he was denied the opportunity to submit his nomination form on January 17, despite being present in the returning officer’s office before 3 pm with documents, PTI reported.

The BJP defeated the Aam Aadmi Party in the polls on February 8. Polling was held on February 5.

While the Hindutva party won in 48 constituencies, the Aam Aadmi Party bagged 21 seats. The halfway mark to gain a majority in the 70-member Assembly is 36 seats.

The Aam Aadmi Party was in power in the national capital since 2013, except for a year of president’s rule between 2014 and 2015.

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