On the eve of counting of votes for the Assembly elections in Delhi, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged that the Election Commission (EC) has refused to upload Form 17C, which contains details of votes polled per booth in each Assembly segment, despite multiple requests from the party. However, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi refuted Kejriwal's claims, asserting that the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 had been "complied in letter and spirit" at every polling station.

 Kejriwal took to Twitter, saying, "EC has refused to upload Form 17C and the number of votes polled per booth in each assembly despite several requests." In response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a website where it has uploaded Form 17C data for all the Assembly seats, he said.

"EC has refused to upload form 17C and number of votes polled per booth in each assembly despite several requests. Aam Aadmi Party has made a website - http://transparentelections.in where we have uploaded all the form 17C of every assembly. This form has all the details of votes polled in each booth," Kejriwal wrote on the social media platform X.

The remarks have since prompted a sharp rebuttal from the Election Commission - with officials insisting that the poll body had already furnished the relevant information. In response to the allegations of the AAP chief, the Delhi CEO's office posted a statement saying, "As per Rule 49S of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961, all the Presiding Officer had furnished the account of votes recorded in Form 17C to every Polling Agent present at the polling station on the day of poll, February 5, 2025." The rule has been complied in letter and spirit at every polling station in ongoing Delhi Legislative Assembly Elections 2025.

According to Kejriwal, through the day, the AAP will present the data of every assembly and every booth in a tabulated format as well so that every voter can access this information. "This is something that the election commission should have done in the interest of transparency, but it is unfortunate that they are refusing to do it," said Kejriwal.

Form 17C is a document that is filled by the Presiding Officer on election day. It records the voter turnout in every station of a constituency. Delhi has eleven districts with 13,766 polling stations set up for voters to cast their ballots on Thursday.

The Rule 49S part (1) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 states, "The presiding officer shall at the close of the poll prepare an account of votes recorded in Form 17C and enclose it in a separate cover with the words 'Account of votes recorded' superscribed thereon." The 2nd part of Rule 49S says that the presiding officer shall furnish a copy of Form 17C to every polling agent.

"The presiding officer shall furnish every polling agent present at the close of the poll a true copy of the entries made in Form 17C after obtaining a receipt from the said polling agent therefor and shall attest it as a true copy," part (2) of Rule 49S of Conduct of Election rules states.

Multiple exit polls indicate that the BJP is holding an advantage over the AAP, which has governed Delhi since 2015

Counting of votes for the Delhi assembly polls will take place on Saturday to decide whether the AAP comes to power for a fourth term or the BJP forms a government in the national capital after 27 years.