Atishi, a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and a minister in the Delhi government, lambasted the Election Commission on Friday following the receipt of a show-cause notice, questioning whether the electoral watchdog was merely a “subsidiary organization” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She also alleged that the BJP had strategically leaked the notice to the media even before it reached her via mail.

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“Exactly on 4th April, the BJP filed a complaint against one of my press conferences… On 5th April at 11:15 am, news channels flashed that a notice had been dispatched to Atishi, but surprisingly, I received the notice in my mailbox merely half an hour later. This sequence of events suggests that the BJP orchestrated the leakage of the Election Commission notice to the media prior to its official dispatch to me. So, my question is whether the Election Commission has now transformed into a mere puppet of the BJP,” Atishi remarked during a press briefing.

Atishi further questioned why the Election Commission refrained from issuing notices to central agencies following the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the freezing of Congress’ bank accounts just before the Lok Sabha elections.

“I urge the Election Commission to uphold its impartiality and not succumb to pressure from the BJP-led central government,” she added emphatically.

Earlier in the day, the Election Commission served a show-cause notice to Atishi in response to her claims that the BJP had approached her through a “close associate” to join their ranks. She asserted that she, along with three other AAP leaders – Saurabh Bharadwaj, Raghav Chadha, and Durgesh Pathak – were threatened with arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) if they didn’t acquiesce to joining the BJP.

In its notice, the Election Commission reminded Atishi of her stature as a minister in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and a leader of a national party, emphasizing the impact of statements made by leaders on public perception during election campaigns.

“Given your influential position, the electorate tends to lend credence to statements emanating from public platforms, and therefore, the statements made by leaders like yourself significantly influence the course of campaigns,” the notice read.

The Election Commission urged Atishi to substantiate her claims with concrete evidence, stressing the necessity of a factual basis for her statements.

The electoral body underscored its expectation that statements made by leaders like Atishi must be grounded in factual accuracy and urged her to provide evidence supporting her assertions.