Delhi: AAP leader Atishi moves court against BJP opponent Gautam Gambhir, says he has two voter IDs
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused Aam Aadmi Party of ‘playing negative politics’.
Aam Aadmi Party’s East Delhi candidate Atishi Marlena on Friday said she had filed a criminal complaint against her Bharatiya Janata Party opponent Gautam Gambhir, claiming that he is registered as a voter in two constituencies
She said this is an offence that will lead to Gambhir’s disqualification as an election candidate, “sooner or later”.
Marlena filed the case in the metropolitan magistrate’s court in Delhi, seeking a police investigation against Gambhir. She presented documents to show that Gambhir was a voter from both Karol Bagh and Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituencies of Delhi.
She claimed that while filing his nomination, Gambhir had concealed this fact, “perhaps because he feared that the same would disqualify him from contesting elections”. In his nomination papers, the cricketer-turned-politician said he was a voter from Rajinder Nagar constituency.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader said Gambhir had committed offences under Sections 17 and 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Section 17 prohibits the registration of a voter from more than one constituency, while Section 31 provides for imprisonment of up to a year, or a penalty, for making false declarations in connection with entries in the electoral roll.
The complaint also accused Gambhir of violating Section 125A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which makes it a criminal offence to conceal information or provide false information in nomination papers.
Marlena said the “failure of the authorities to investigate the matter will allow the accused to go scot free and potentially subvert essential democratic principles in order to secure a membership of the Parliament, at the expense of the electorate and other candidates.”
Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari later told reporters: “There is no truth to this. These are just allegations. It will not threaten his [Gambhir’s] candidature. AAP is playing negative politics.”
Candidates of the Aam Aadmi Party had filed their nominations on Monday for the Lok Sabha polls, which will be held in the seven constituencies of Delhi on May 12. Gambhir filed his nomination on Tuesday.