Akhilesh raises voter list issue from 2022 UP polls in Parliament

The controversy surrounding irregularities in the voter list, including the removal of voter’s names, has flared up again in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav on Monday (August 18) distributed in Parliament the copies of the affidavits the party had submitted to the Election Commission (EC) during and after the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, alleging extensive irregularities in the voter rolls.

He also shared the copies, with receipts received from the EC, with a few journalists.

Moreover, Akhilesh pointed out that the affidavits were compiled in a hurry keeping in mind the time-bar for raising complaints and that if the EC had provided the party with machine-readable rolls, the actual number of seats where electoral rolls were rigged would have been much higher.

Complaints re-submitted

In a recent development, even as the Opposition's 'vote chori' drive gains ground, the SP has again lodged a complaint with the EC, alleging that a large numbers of voters’ names have been deleted from the rolls.

SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand stated that the complaint has been re-submitted to the EC via email, along with lists from different assembly constituencies in UP.

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These are the same lists that the SP had given to the EC during the UP assembly elections in 2022. According to the party, affidavits were submitted along with the complaint at that time as well. The SP had complained to the EC that large numbers of Muslims, backward castes, and Dalit voters had been removed from the rolls soon after the state assembly elections.

Shortly thereafter, the Chief Electoral Officer had issued a notice to the SP, directing that complaints should be submitted with affidavits.

Issue resurfaces

In response, the party has once again filed the complaints, this time backed by a large number of affidavits and supporting documents.

Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has also posted the acknowledgment receipt of one such affidavit-based complaint on social media to highlight the issue. In his post on X, Akhilesh reiterated that affidavits were attached when complaints were filed with the EC. He also shared the EC’s email acknowledging these complaints, effectively putting the poll body on the defensive.

With the matter now resurfacing in a big way, concerns over the deletion of voters’ names from the rolls have intensified in UP.

Voter irregularities

In the wake of Rahul Gandhi’s recent allegations, in its re-submission of voter irregularities to the EC, the SP has highlighted large-scale voter deletions in several UP districts. The Federal has access to these lists accompanied by affidavits that were handed over by the SP.

Also read: EC presser on ‘vote chori’ claims, Bihar SIR: Top things CEC Gyanesh Kumar said

The party specifically alleged irregularities in constituencies such as Rae Bareli, Kunda (Pratapgarh), Babaganj (Pratapgarh), Patiyali (Kasganj), Mariyahu (Jaunpur), Ballia Nagar (Ballia), Karnalganj (Gonda), and Amroha. Complete lists of deleted voters’ names have been submitted for each of these constituencies.

SP spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan Chand said, “After complaints were received during the assembly elections, the SP conducted its own investigation. Once the facts were verified, we submitted complaints with affidavits to the Election Commission. Now we have done so again. We are also examining the Lok Sabha voter list.”

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Raising the matter in Mainpuri, MP Dimple Yadav said that large numbers of Muslims and backward community voters’ names had been removed from the list.

BJP leader raises issue

At the same time, Aseem Arun, BJP leader, MLA from Kannauj, and minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, also claimed that the names of BJP supporters had been struck off the Kannauj voter list.

Clearly, the issue of voter list irregularities is likely to escalate in UP in the coming days.

(This article first appeared in The Federal Desh)