LUCKNOW, Jan 10: Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav today claimed that Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders knew how many voters would be removed from the SIR draft electoral roll even before it was published, and questioned the poll panel’s “credibility”.
The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was published on January 6. In it, 2.89 crore voters were excluded and 12.55 crore retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier.
He also alleged that about 1.93 crore voters were unmapped, after getting mapped, claiming that the BJP government is giving instructions to remove the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak – Backward Classes, Dalits, and Minorities) voters and increase its own share of voters.
Speaking to reporters in Lucknow on Saturday, Yadav said he was apprehensive about the removal of three crore voters.
“However, even before the draft voter list was released, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh said that approximately four crore votes were going to be removed,” the former UP chief minister said.
“He belongs to the BJP. His speech is in the archives and everyone has heard it. A former MP from Kannauj said that 3 lakh votes had already been removed in one district. If BJP leaders, a former party MP, and the chief minister, are making such statements, then what is the credibility of the Election Commission?” he posed.
The final electoral list will be published on March 6.
Yadav said, “We hope that when such a large-scale exercise like the voter registration drive is being conducted, genuine voters will have their names added to the voter list.” Raising the question about data provided by Booth Level Officers (BLOs), the Samajwadi Party chief asked how it is that the total number of voters for the Assembly elections in the state is 12.56 crore, when the number of rural voters for panchayat elections is 12.69 crore.
He also raised doubts about the removal of 2.88 crore voters from the overall draft voter list, 40 lakh voters were added by the same BLOs for the panchayat elections.
“Is the final voter list for the Panchayat elections being delayed by 50 days to conceal this fact? When the same BLOs prepared both voter lists, why is the state data not being released? Why are they delaying it?” Yadav asked.
“We can only demand this information from the Election Commission, because those in power have already given instructions to increase the number of votes.” The Samajwadi Party supremo said that party workers have been provided with the draft of complaints, which they can file with authorities whenever they spot fraudulent voting.
“They just need to fill in the names and provide the details. The rest of the form is already prepared for them. They won’t have to do much work,” he said.
Demanding that voter information be linked to Aadhaar, he alleged that the BJP has machines that they use to create fake Aadhaar cards.
“Many loyal Samajwadi Party workers have informed us that whenever elections are held, the BJP brings in such machines to create Aadhaar cards. Our demand is that Aadhaar cards should be made of metal.
“So, we hope that considering the irregularities happening in UP, the preparations for manipulation, and the conspiracy underway, the country will once again decide to link voting to Aadhaar. This is a new era of data, a new time where data has become very important,” he added.
Yadav also said, “From day one, the Samajwadi Party has been saying that this voter list process is not an SIR, but an NRC.”
“The BJP government is getting the Election Commission to do the work that should have been done by the Home Ministry. The government should tell us how many infiltrators were found in the SIR,” Yadav added.
He also claimed that the BJP government is giving instructions to remove the PDA (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak – Backward Classes, Dalits, and Minorities) voters and increase its own share of voters.
The SP chief alleged that about 1.93 crore voters were unmapped after getting mapped.
This is a serious matter, and after mapping, almost two crore votes are being unmapped again. It is being said that there was some error, he said.
This is not an error, he said, adding that a deliberate error has been created by the BJP to confuse the people.
Yadav said that the question is again being raised, “Whose mapping app is this? The Election Commission should tell us whose app it is. Who is providing technical support to the commission?”
“If the company that is making donations to the BJP is doing the mapping and managing the data, it means that there is a conspiracy to delete lakhs of votes and keep the opposition confused,” he said.
The BJP cannot win on issues. They are preparing to manipulate votes and influence the Uttar Pradesh elections through the administration, the former chief minister added.
The BJP is not going to win in Bengal. The people there are with Mamata Banerjee, the SP chief said.
Yadav also handed over cheques of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased BLOs from Moradabad and Deoria at the party’s state headquarters in Lucknow and expressed his deep condolences, the party said in a statement. (PTI)
The post Akhilesh claims BJP leaders already knew how many voters will be removed form draft electoral rolls appeared first on Daily Excelsior.