9 hours ago
Last Updated:January 30, 2025, 18:06 IST
Mann, who has been campaigning for AAP in the upcoming Delhi Elections, has been residing in Kapurthala House. Reports had surfaced that Delhi Police conducted a raid there for a search operation.
Atishi claimed ECI and Delhi Police raided Bhagwant Mann's residence in Delhi. (PTI/File)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including Chief Minister Atishi, claimed that Election Commission of India (ECI) officials and Delhi Police had raided Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Kapurthala House on Thursday.
Mann, who has been campaigning for AAP in the upcoming Delhi Assembly Elections, has a residence in Delhi’s Kapurthala House. The Election Commission team reportedly conducted a raid at Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Kapurthala House, Delhi, for a search operation. However, they claimed that they were not allowed to enter the premises.
“Delhi Police has reached to raid Bhagwant Mann ji’s house in Delhi. BJP people are distributing money, shoes, sheets in broad daylight – that is not visible. Instead they go to raid the residence of an elected Chief Minister. People of Delhi will give their answer on the 5th," said Atishi in a post on X.
दिल्ली पुलिस @BhagwantMann जी के दिल्ली के घर पर रेड करने पहुँच गई है।भाजपा वाले दिन दहाड़े पैसे, जूते, चद्दर बांट रहे हैं- वो नहीं दिखता। बल्कि एक चुने हुए मुख्यमंत्री के निवास पर रेड करने पहुँच जाते हैं।
वाह री भाजपा! दिल्ली वाले 5 तारीख़ को जवाब देंगे!
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) January 30, 2025
Later, Mann claimed that an ECI team and Delhi Police had reached his residence in Delhi’s Kapurthala House. “BJP members are openly distributing money in Delhi, but the Delhi Police and Election Commission are not noticing anything," said the Punjab CM on X.
“No action is being taken on this. In a way, the Delhi Police and Election Commission are defaming Punjabis on the instructions of the BJP, which is highly condemnable," he added.
आज दिल्ली पुलिस के साथ चुनाव आयोग की टीम दिल्ली में मेरे घर कपूरथला हाउस रेड करने पहुँची है। दिल्ली के अंदर भाजपा वाले खुले आम पैसे बाँट रहे हैं पर दिल्ली पुलिस और चुनाव आयोग को कुछ नहीं दिख रहा है। इस सब पर कोई कार्यवाही नहीं हो रही।एक तरिके से दिल्ली पुलिस और चुनाव आयोग भाजपा…
— Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) January 30, 2025
Meanwhile, Mann hit out at the BJP during a press conference in Delhi, claiming that Parvesh Verma openly admits that he is distributing money but the authorities always conduct raids against him and party chief Arvind Kejriwal. He denied doing anything wrong, saying they joined politics not to hide their deeds but too fight against people like them (BJP leaders). “We were doing well in their respective professions, why would we feel the need to join politics if they did a good job," Mann said.
EC Denies Raid At Mann’s House
Meanwhile, the poll body has refuted reports of any raids at Kapurthala House. Sources told News18 that raids are conducted by investigation agencies and was not part of the ECI’s mandate. They said EC does not interfere in any kind of investigative procedure.
Responding to AAP’s claim on Bhagwant Mann’s house raid, Returning Officer OP Pandey said, “We have got a complaint about money distribution. We have to dispose of the complaint in 100 minutes. Our FST had come here which was not allowed to enter. I have come here to request them to let us enter along with a cameraperson. The complaint of money distribution was received on the cVIGIL app."
He said a complaint had been filed to the SHO of the area that the Delhi Police was not allowed to carry out its duty as over 100 minutes had passed since it arrived on the spot.
AAP’s campaign was hit by a massive controversy after Kejriwal claimed that Haryana was contaminating the Yamuna river with “poison" before the water entered Delhi, sparking an uproar from both the BJP and Congress. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Amit Shah have hit out at Kejriwal for his remarks and said the AAP’s defeat was imminent.
AAP vs Election Commission
The Election Commission of India had earlier sought a response from Kejriwal on his remark by 8 pm on Wednesday, replying to which the AAP chief said that the raw water received from the neighbouring state was “highly contaminated and extremely poisonous" for human health.
In a fresh charge at the AAP supremo, the poll body asked him not to mix the issue of high ammonia in Yamuna water with his allegations that the poison in the river would have led to a mass genocide. The ECI demanded Kejriwal to provide factual evidence by 11 am on January 31.
Reacting to the second notice of the EC, Kejriwal said, “Rajiv Kumar wants a post-retirement job. No one has ruined democracy as much as he has. The language he has used is not the Election Commission’s job. He should contest the election from any seat in Delhi. We will send three bottles to Rajiv Kumar as well. I know they will arrest me in three days, let them do so, I am not afraid."
Meanwhile, a court in Haryana’s Sonipat on Wednesday issued a notice to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal over his claim that the BJP-ruled state was mixing “poison in the Yamuna" river, and asked him to appear on February 17.
Location : First Published:January 30, 2025, 17:27 IST
News elections AAP Claims Police Raided Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann's Delhi Residence, EC Refutes
