Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday questioned the need for the Election Commission's Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), alleging that the BJP resorts to electoral malpractice when faced with the prospect of defeat.
Addressing reporters at the SP headquarters here, Yadav said his party was not opposed to either exercise but would resist any attempt to manipulate voter lists. He urged the Election Commission to conduct only one revision instead of undertaking repeated exercises.
Alleging collusion between the BJP and the poll body, Yadav claimed that complaints about voters being registered at multiple locations had not resulted in action against election officials.
He cited the case of a man named Vikas Yadav, whose name was allegedly registered at 12 places in electoral rolls, and claimed that BJP workers could cast votes in his name at locations other than where he actually voted.
The Election Commission has announced SSR in 17 states, including Uttar Pradesh, to update electoral rolls by adding new voters and including eligible voters whose names were left out.
Yadav further alleged that the BJP was seeking to manipulate elections as sections of its own voter base were moving away from the party. He claimed that alleged misappropriation of funds belonging to the Ayodhya Ram temple trust had angered devotees and said farmers, women, the middle class, and Gen Z and Gen Alpha were also unhappy with the BJP.
Questioning the BJP's push for 'One Nation, One Election', the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that the party wanted to carry out electoral malpractices in one go and avoid being held accountable through repeated elections.
On the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav alleged that murders were taking place across the state.
He also welcomed former minister and former Rajya Sabha member Rajpal Saini and several others into the SP, expressing confidence that the party would form the next government in the state on the strength of its PDA (backward classes, Dalits and minorities) grouping.
(With inputs from PTI)
