Lucknow, Nov. 22 -- Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav Saturday accused the BJP government and the Election Commission of conspiring to delete more than 50,000 voters from each Assembly segment where his party and the INDIA bloc fared strongly in the last general elections. The allegations came amid the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh and 11 other states. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters on the birth anniversary of his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, he said, "We have received information that in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, is making major preparations." The Samajwadi Party chief opined that SIR should not be carried out during the wedding season and demanded that the poll panel extend the timeline for the voter roll cleanup exercise in Uttar Pradesh.
Citing electoral data, he said that while the BJP, which won 255 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, led in only 162 Assembly segments in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On the other hand, the SP, which won 111 Assembly seats in 2022, secured leads in 183 segments in last year's general elections. The Congress, he noted, which had won only two Assembly seats in 2022, led in 40 Assembly segments in the general elections. Pointing at the data, Yadav alleged that the BJP brought in SIR "as a conspiracy" after losing ground. "We expected impartiality from the poll panel, but its role in the recent bypolls in Uttar Pradesh raised concerns. We filed several complaints, but no action was taken," he claimed. Yadav also said, "The BJP government and the Election Commission are preparing to delete over 50,000 voters in each Assembly constituency won by the SP or the INDIA bloc, using SIR as a pretext. This is happening in Uttar Pradesh and in West Bengal. We are alert." The Samajwadi Party chief further claimed the BJP and the Election Commission were focusing "primarily" on Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal after the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results.
He urged party office-bearers and workers to meticulously verify voter lists, meet booth level officers, ensure eligible voters are added, and any irregularities are immediately reported to the party headquarters. Yadav also played an audio recording of a conversation between two persons, purportedly including a sub-divisional magistrate, discussing technical issues related to the SIR exercise. He cited his own constituency, Kannauj, as an example, saying it, too, had become a "target". "Kannauj was once the capital of India. Everyone knows Emperor Harshavardhan's association with it. Those who could remove his statue in Prayagraj before the Mahakumbh can certainly remove voters. That is what they are doing." Demanding that the Election Commission issue a clear standard operating procedure for political parties for the SIR exercise, Yadav sought more time for the voter roll cleanup in the state. "There are 414 days left for elections. The conspiracy is to delete more than 50,000 votes in every Assembly constituency in UP. The Samajwadi Party workers are fully prepared to thwart this," he added. Remembering his father, the founder of the Samajwadi Party and a three-time chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yadav said they had earlier decided to inaugurate the 'Netaji Memorial' on November 22, next year. "Today, on his birth anniversary, I reiterate that the memorial will be inaugurated on that date with a grand ceremony," he said. He added that toppers and gold medallists from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University were felicitated with iPads in Mulayam Singh Yadav's memory.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.