"Possibility of breach of peace, pressures": New Delhi District Admin seeks police protection for election officer
New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): Ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, the New Delhi District Administration has requested police protection for the District Election Officer due to concerns about potential disruptions to the electoral process. The Additional District Magistrate, Nishant Bodh, cited the frequent presence of political party representatives at the election office and the possibility of breach of peace and pressure on election officialsIn a letter sent to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, New Delhi, the ADM wrote, "I am writing to bring to your attention the frequent presence of representatives of political parties in the office of District Election Office in light of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections, 2025. It is imperative to mention that under such circumstances, there is possibility of breach of peace and pressures being imposed on the office functionaries including DEO in order to disturb the process of conduct of election."The request comes amid allegations of large-scale voter fraud in the New Delhi Assembly constituency. After the allegations, the ADM further requested a 'threat perception' by the police to ensure the security of the DEO."Moreover, you are also requested to carry a threat perception of DEO, New Delhi in light of all the recent developments to ensure that the bodily security of the DEO, New Delhi is ensured," the letter read.Party's national Convenor Arvind Kejriwal had claimed earlier in a post on X, "Large-scale fraud taking place in voter additions and deletions in the New Delhi assembly. Delhi CM Atishi ji writes this letter to CEC presenting evidence and seeking time to meet."CM Atishi, in her letter to the Delhi CEO, said, "I am writing to urgently draw your attention towards a significant surge in voter addition and deletion applications in the New Delhi Assembly Constituency over the past few days."She mentioned that from October 29, 2024, to January 2, 2025, a total of 13,276 Form-6 were received."Total no of votes, as per draft electoral rolls published after summary revision on 29 October 2024, is 1,06,873. Number of votes sought to be deleted is 6,166, which is 5.77 per cent of total votes," she added.To address these concerns, the ADM has asked the police to assess the threat perception and ensure the security of the District Election Officer. The assembly elections in Delhi are likely to be held in February 2025.AAP won 62 out of the 70 seats in the 2020 assembly elections and BJP secured eight seats.The New Delhi Assembly constituency will see a triangular contest between AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, Congress' Sandeep Dikshit and BJP's Parvesh Verma in the upcoming assembly polls.The assembly elections in Delhi are due in February, and the dates for the same are expected to be announced in a few days. (ANI)