Political parties seem to have newer tricks up their sleeves to mislead voters in the upcoming general elections. On Sunday, Anant Vijay, a Noida-based journalist received a phone call from an unknown number where the caller claimed he was calling on behalf of a radio channel. The caller proceeded to ask him which political party will he vote for in the upcoming elections.
इस नंबर से फोन आया कि वो दिल्ली के एफ एम रेडियो से बोल रहे हैं और मुझसे जानना चाहते हैं कि मैं किस पार्टी को वोट दूँगा । वो एफ़एम रेडियो स्टेशन का नाम नहीं बता रहा था। जब मैंने चुनाव आयोग से शिकायत करने की बात की तो फोन काट दिया गया। pic.twitter.com/2GdOtzsXaj
— अनंत विजय/ Anant Vijay (@anantvijay) March 24, 2019
Anant Vijay said that after he told the caller that he will complain about this to the election commission, the caller abruptly disconnected the call.
Another Delhi resident, Nishant Sharma, too received a call from an unknown number with same modus operandi.
Other Twitter users also raised this concern.
I was told it is from some fm radio and the caller bluntly asked which party are going to vote for.
— Sweta Singh (@swetasingh2000) March 25, 2019
Some Twitter users claimed that the caller from ‘radio channel’ then started speaking about Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party.
Even I got call from this FM Radio and when I enquired what right do they know my vote, they started talking about Delhi and Aap. EC should take action such thugs and parties associated with it
— Nitin kumar mittal (@mittalnitin25) March 24, 2019
Others, too, suspected Aam Aadmi Party’s role in this dirty trick.
@TajinderBagga @KapilMishra_IND received a call from no 9873872185, they were asking to which party I will vote. They were pretending to call from FM Radio. Please take action, I doubt some suspicious activity from AAP.
— चौकीदार Randhir jha हर हर महादेव! (@randhirjha24) March 24, 2019
Truecaller, an app which helps people identify unknown numbers, reflected one of the numbers to be of Aam Aamdi Party.
It’s AAP. pic.twitter.com/iZ7fewQMAa
— deepak nauriyal (@depaknauriyal) March 24, 2019
Aam Aadmi Party’s involvement in such tricks cannot be completely ruled out. As reportedearlier, AAP call centre has been making phone calls to people in Delhi the telling them that BJP has deleted their names from the voter list, and Arvind Kejriwal was restoring their names. Several people have reported receiving such calls, and some of them posted recordings of the calls on social media also.
After people raised objections on the misleading calls they received, the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi had requested the Delhi police to investigate the phone calls that many people in Delhi have been receiving telling that their name has been struck off from the voter list. In a letter written to the Delhi Police Commissioner on February 2, Election Officer Manoj Kumar said that they have various written complaints in this regard, and prima facie it appears that the matter needs to be thoroughly investigated. The Delhi Police had lodged an FIR on February 10.
Following this, the Delhi Police initiated action against Aam Aadmi Party call centres to take “requisite action” against those making ‘misleading’ phone calls to people about Delhi’s electoral roll. As usual, Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal held Amit Shah responsible for the action initiated by the Delhi Police against the call centres employed by AAP.
