The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) urged the Election Commission of India on Monday to initiate a probe regarding 200 voter identity cards, which volunteers of the party had said they had found dumped on a road in South Delhi’s Badarpur.

In a letter to the commission, the party asked it to put in place a mechanism that ensures voter ID cards sent by them reach the individuals they are meant for.

The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) of Delhi took cognisance of the matter and asked the district magistrate to submit a preliminary report at the earliest.

“We have to see if the voters are from Delhi. If yes, then which area of Delhi and who are the concerned officers in charge of the area. Only then will we take appropriate action,” a senior electoral official said.

On Monday, AAP Lok Sabha candidate from South Delhi Raghav Chadha showed the media a boxful of voter ID cards and torn speed post envelopes, which, he said, AAP volunteers had found near a garbage dumpyard in Badarpur on Sunday.

He said they had recovered more than 200 such cards and later, after the details were matched with a database, it emerged that all cards belonged to persons who had found their names missing from the electoral rolls. All enrolments pertaining to the recovered voter ID cards, Chadha said, were done through five registration camps set up by the party in Badarpur.

“Many individuals who enrolled through our camps have been complaining about not receiving the voter ID cards. When we checked with the EC, we found that most applications were cleared and the cards were dispatched. Now it is clear that the process of distribution has been hijacked,” said Chadha, accusing the BJP of doing so.

Vijendra Gupta, BJP’s leader of Opposition in Delhi called the allegation baseless. He said, “I have written to the EC today, requesting for a thorough enquiry into the matter.”

First Published: Apr 16, 2019 06:59 IST