Samajwadi Party (SP) National President Akhilesh Yadav Sunday raised serious questions about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Uttar Pradesh.
He said that the SIR for the assembly elections’ voter list was conducted by the Central Election Commission, while the SIR for the panchayat elections’ voter list was conducted by the State Election Commission. He asked which of the two SIRs is correct, since both sets of figures cannot be accurate simultaneously.
Posting on his social media account, Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the same BLOs (Booth Level Officers) were deployed everywhere in both SIR processes, yet a major contradiction has emerged in the figures. He said that after the assembly election SIR, the number of voters in the entire state decreased by 2.89 crore to 12.56 crore, while after the panchayat election SIR, the number of rural voters increased by 40 lakh to 12.69 crore.
He said that of the two figures, both cannot be correct. Akhilesh Yadav directly questioned the Election Commission, asking which of the two SIRs is correct? He added that if such contradictory figures are emerging from SIRs conducted in the same state by the same BLOs, it is a matter of serious concern.
The SP president alleged that the Election Commission is working under pressure from the BJP and that a conspiracy is being hatched to disenfranchise voters in the guise of the voters’ list revision. He charged, “Under pressure from the BJP, you forgot to balance the equation of vote rigging, and your deception has been completely exposed.”
He demanded that the SIR process be made completely transparent and that the Election Commission immediately clarify the situation regarding this contradiction so that the fairness of democracy and the right of the people to vote can be protected.