Somnath Bharti moves Delhi HC challenging election of BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Somnath Bharti. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Both Mr. Bharti and Ms. Swaraj had contested the Lok Sabha election from the New Delhi constituency.

“The petitioner secured 3,74,815 votes and [Ms.] Swaraj secured 4,53,185 votes as per the returning officer,” the plea said. However, it added that on May 25, when New Delhi had gone to the polls, Mr. Bharti had seen Ms. Swaraj’s booth agents showing pamphlets displaying her ballot number, photo, election symbol, and photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking them to vote for her. The petitioner claimed that he had reported this to the returning officer, but all in vain.

The plea also claimed that Ms. Swaraj’s expenses went beyond the permitted expenditure for the Lok Sabha election, which stands at ₹95 lakh per candidate. “….few expenditures from her accounts were transferred from her personal expenditure accounts to that of her party i.e. BJP which is flagrant violation of the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951,” the plea said.

Mr. Bharti, in his plea, also claimed that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate from New Delhi constituency, Raaj Kumar Anand, was actually “set up by the party of Ms. Swaraj to help their candidate”.

Mr. Anand, who was a Minister in the AAP government in Delhi, had been active in campaigning for the petitioner till April 10, when he had suddenly resigned from the party and Ministry, the plea said. “He resigned because of the misuse of the agencies like ED/CBI/IT against him by the Returning Officer and BJP. On enquiry, 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,” the plea added.

Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora will hear the plea on Monday, July 22.