Akhilesh claims BJP leaders already knew how many voters will be removed form draft electoral rolls

Lucknow, Jan 10 (PTI) Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday claimed that Uttar Pradesh BJP leaders knew how many voters would be removed form 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 excluded and 12.55 crore retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier.

Speaking to reporters in Lucknow on Saturday, Yadav said he was apprehensive about 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 is it 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 adeed 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 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. PTI NAV SHS SHS