The election officer of the New Delhi district has responded to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations of manipulation of voter lists by the BJP. “Submission of applications for addition and deletion of electors in the electoral roll does not automatically result in the addition or deletion of names,” the district election officer said.

The AAP has been accusing the BJP of transferring votes from across the country to the New Delhi assembly constituency using the addresses of MPs and ministers who live in the New Delhi constituency. The BJP has rejected all the allegations.

Earlier in the day, a delegation of AAP leaders led by national convener Arvind Kejriwal met the Election Commission officials. “We told the Election Commission how in the New Delhi assembly constituency, each BJP MP has given applications for 30 to 40 names to be included in the voter roll,” Mr Kejriwal told media after meeting the poll panel officials.

The election officer, in a post on X, asserted that each application “under Form 6 (for addition) and Form 7 (for deletion) is carefully scrutinized and disposed of in strict compliance with the norms prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI)”.

The district election officer rejected the claims by the AAP regarding the distribution of items, such as bed sheets, shoes, spectacles and jackets, by the BJP candidates citing “no credible evidence”.

Mr Kejriwal had claimed that some BJP candidates were allegedly distributing bedsheets, shoes, jackets and money in full public view in their constituency.

“No credible evidence, such as pictorial proof or witness testimony, has been provided to substantiate these claims,” the officer said.

The Model Code of Conduct – a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission for candidates and political parties for free and fair elections – was implemented in the national on January 7, the day the poll schedule was announced.

The officer said that the police and Flying Squad Team of the election machinery are “actively monitoring the situation 24/7”.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said there’s a “distinct possibility” that Israel and Hamas will be able to reach a ceasefire deal before President Joe Biden leaves office in a week.

“The pressure is building for Hamas to come to yes,” Sullivan said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Washington bureau on Monday. “It’s there for the taking so the question is now can we all collectively seize the moment and make this happen.”

Sullivan said Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, had been in the region for more than a week working out the details of an agreement. He said he’d spoken with Qatar’s prime minister as well as Israeli officials and “there is a general sense that this is moving in the right direction.”

The Biden administration has tried to work closely with President-elect Donald Trump’s team on the issue. Sullivan suggested that Trump’s demand for a deal before he takes office hasn’t hurt the talks.

“The pressure building here toward the end of President Biden’s term has been considerable,” Sullivan said. “That will help contribute to a positive outcome if we can generate that final yes from both sides.

Sullivan said he wasn’t ready to make any promises to get a deal that would end the fighting that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“We’ve been here before, we’ve been close before and haven’t gotten across the finish line,” Sullivan said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Donald Trump’s anticipated return to the Oval Office is influencing global politics. His unpredictable diplomacy is reshaping alliances, spurring NATO allies’ budget reevaluations, and prompting negotiations like the China-India border dispute resolution. Trudeau’s resignation in Canada, Danish talks concerning Greenland, and potential Israel-Hamas negotiations hint at the Trump Effect in various geopolitical scenarios.