Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday accused the Varanasi administration of coming under "contradictory pressure" from Delhi and Lucknow during counting for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections. He alleged that the result showing his party's candidate winning was ready, but the victory certificate was being withheld.
Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency since 2014, became the focus of Yadav's allegations as counting in the graduates' constituency continued late into the evening.
In a series of posts on X, Yadav alleged that counting was being slowed or halted to prevent the BJP's defeat in Varanasi from becoming national news. He urged the Election Commission to demonstrate its impartiality and warned that officials allegedly involved in manipulating the results could face legal action.
"Voting being stopped or slowed down in Varanasi is part of a conspiracy, and everyone understands it. But the BJP will not succeed," he wrote in a post at 9.35 pm, adding that the result of the SP candidate's victory was ready but the certificate had not been issued.
Yadav's references to "Delhi-Lucknow" alluded to the BJP's central leadership and the Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, amid his recurring allegations of discord between the two.
"The Varanasi administration is caught between the two millstones of the fight between Delhi and Lucknow," Yadav alleged in a subsequent post. He urged officials to stand with democracy and warned that even a minor lapse could prove costly.
At 9.56 pm, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said a recount would not help the administration, claiming that SP workers and supporters were keeping vigil. He said party workers and leaders, along with young people and "supporters of democracy", were heading to the counting centre from nearby cities with food and water.
He appealed to party workers, whom he called "PDA sentinels", to remain vigilant, reiterating: "There is no rest until victory is certified."
PDA is the Samajwadi Party's political and social coalition formula. It stands for Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak, meaning backward classes, Dalits and minorities.
According to the office of the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO), results in nine of the 11 constituencies had been declared by 8 pm, with the BJP winning six seats and the SP three. Counting continued in the Lucknow and Varanasi graduates' constituencies, with the eighth round completed in Lucknow and the fifth in Varanasi.
Among the declared results, SP candidate Mansingh Yadav won the Allahabad-Jhansi graduates' seat with 60,358 votes, while the party's Lal Bihari Yadav secured the Varanasi teachers' seat with 11,612 votes. The BJP won the Meerut and Agra graduates' seats and four teachers' constituencies.
(With inputs from PTI)
