New Delhi

On Monday, the Delhi High Court scheduled August 13 to hear Aam Aadmi Party leader Somnath Bharti’s challenge to BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj’s victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Bharti’s plea disputes Swaraj’s win from the New Delhi constituency, alleging corrupt practices.

Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora adjourned the hearing to allow for corrections to typographical errors in the petition. Bharti requested the court to direct the Returning Officer to provide records from the May 25, 2024, elections for the New Delhi seat.

Bharti, who lost the election with 374,815 votes to Swaraj’s 453,185, claims irregularities influenced the results. His petition also alleges that Raaj Kumar Anand, a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, was actually a proxy for Swaraj’s campaign. Anand, previously a minister in the Delhi government and an active supporter of Bharti, resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party abruptly, allegedly due to pressure from agencies like ED, CBI, and IT.