Lucknow: Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav has claimed that his party has identified 2.5 million duplicate voters in the Uttar Pradesh electoral rolls. Addressing a press conference at the state party headquarters in Lucknow on Friday, Yadav stated that the Samajwadi Party will submit the list of these duplicate entries to the Election Commission and demand a reward of Rs 2.5 crore from the poll panel. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conspiring to manipulate the voter list ahead of the elections by attempting to re-add fake and shifted votes.
Yadav alleged that the ruling party wants to bring people from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and other states to register them as voters in Uttar Pradesh. Challenging the ruling party on the election schedule, he remarked that if the BJP does not fear defeat, the Election Commission will announce the election dates by January 6. He maintained that the ruling party is tampering with the electoral rolls due to the fear of losing the upcoming polls.
Questions Over Voter Deletions and Poll Panel Transparency
Questioning recent claims regarding voter deletions, Yadav stated that if 12.7 million Hindu votes have been removed from the voter list, it would reduce the BJP’s tally by an average of 31,000 votes in every assembly constituency. He demanded that the Election Commission clarify whether the figure of 12.7 million deleted Hindu votes is true or false. Referring to the Chief Minister’s oath of secrecy, the SP chief asked how the Chief Minister could publicly state that Hindu votes had been cut.
Yadav further alleged a lack of transparency in the functioning of the poll panel, claiming that the opposition receives no information from the Election Commission while the Chief Minister knows everything beforehand. Warning voters from the PDA (backward, Dalit, and minority) communities to remain alert, he claimed that 10 million PDA votes have been removed from the rolls. He cautioned that people might be turned away at polling booths on voting day after being told their names are missing from the list.
Criticism of Law and Order and Police Functioning
Turning to law and order, Yadav alleged that crime has increased under the BJP government in the state. He claimed that members of the PDA communities constitute the largest share of inmates in jails and have been the primary victims of fake police encounters.
Citing judicial observations on the state police force, the former Chief Minister stated that the Supreme Court and the High Court have made 81 serious remarks regarding the functioning of the Uttar Pradesh Police over the past ten years. He noted that the courts had even issued warnings to the extent of dissolving the state police force.
Demand for Removal of Senior Officials During Polls
Yadav expressed hope that, similar to the practice followed in other states, the Election Commission would remove the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, the Principal Secretary (Home), the Chief Secretary, and other senior officials during the elections. He alleged that administrative officers have been posted across the state keeping the elections in mind, leaving very few officers from the PDA communities in several districts.
Responding to questions regarding the Samajik Parivartan Morcha, Yadav clarified that the alliance formed between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party during the Lok Sabha elections will continue in the upcoming assembly polls, describing it as a permanent alliance. He also accused the BJP government of committing severe injustice against senior party leader Azam Khan. Pointing out that the Enforcement Directorate is investigating Khan’s university, Yadav questioned why no investigation is being conducted into the alleged looting of public money in tenders worth Rs 17,500
