In response, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar denied the allegations, stating that the Commission had not received any affidavits from either Uttar Pradesh or Yadav.
File Photo: ANI
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of mishandling affidavits related to large-scale voter deletions during the 2022 Assembly elections, sparking a fresh round of confrontation with the poll body.
In response, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar denied the allegations, stating that the Commission had not received any affidavits from either Uttar Pradesh or Yadav.
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Amid the controversy, the Commission has initiated an inquiry into Yadav’s complaints regarding alleged voter list discrepancies.
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District magistrates in Kasganj, Jaunpur, Barabanki, and Lucknow were directed to conduct verifications, and their reports dismissed Yadav’s claims as baseless and misleading, with official statements posted on the social media platform X.
Addressing a press conference on August 17, CEC Kumar reiterated that no such affidavits had been received. However, a day later, Yadav countered by distributing copies of affidavits to reporters in Parliament, insisting that nearly 18,000 affidavits had been submitted to the ECI within the stipulated deadline after receiving notices from the Commission.
According to Yadav, these affidavits detailed irregularities in constituencies such as Amapur, Bakshi Ka Talab, Jaunpur Sadar, and Kursi, alleging that voter deletions were carried out in a targeted manner against specific communities.
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