DMs of 3 UP dists refute Akhilesh Yadav's allegations about 'anomalies' in 2022 UP polls

Lucknow, Aug 19 (PTI) The district magistrates (DMs) of Jaunpur, Kasganj and Barabanki on Tuesday refuted the allegations of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav regarding anomalies in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

The DMs of the three districts took to X and, quoting the August 17 post of Yadav, replied to him regarding the allegations.

Soon after their posts, Yadav again hit back at the Election Commission (EC), saying it "cannot escape" by putting the DMs forward and a thorough probe should be done in the matter.

In the post on X, Kasganj DM Pranay Singh said, "Complaint regarding removing names of eight voters from Amapur constituency. In the probe, it was found that the names of seven of them were removed as per rules as they were twice in the voter list. The names of seven are still in the list and after the death of one voter, the name of one was removed after his wife filled Form 7," he added.

Similarly, Jaunpur DM Dinesh Chandra, in a separate post on X, said, "A complaint was received via email regarding removing the names of five people from the Jaunpur assembly seat number 366. The mentioned five died before 2022. This was confirmed by their family members, locals and concerned corporator. The names were removed as per the rules." "The mentioned complaint is entirely baseless and misleading," he added, quoting Yadav's post.

In another post on X, Barabanki DM Shashank Tripathi replied to Yadav. He said, "A complaint regarding the removal of two voters wrongly from the Kursi seat was received. It was found in the probe that the names of both of them were there in the list." After the post of the DMs, Yadav replied on X, "The BJP government does not want to answer even one of the 18,000 affidavits we submitted regarding deletion of names in the 2022 assembly elections in UP. The Election Commission cannot escape by putting the District Magistrates forward." "There should be a thorough investigation into this matter. DM sahab should show where the 'death certificates' that were submitted while deleting the names are. If this is not a lie, then why did it take so many years to give this clarification?" Yadav added.

On August 17, Yadav had demanded that the poll panel issue an affidavit confirming the authenticity of the digital receipts his party received against its submissions.

He also shared screengrabs of their submissions regarding the 2022 assembly poll results in Amapur, Bakshi Ka Talab, Jaunpur Sadar and Kursi constituencies.

His remarks came after Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at a press conference on Sunday spoke about the "vote theft" charges levelled by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against the poll body.

In a post on X, Yadav had said, "The Election Commission, which is saying that it did not receive affidavits sent by the party, should refer to the receipts issued by its own office as proof of our affidavits." "This time, we demand the Election Commission to provide an affidavit stating that the digital receipts sent to us were authentic," he had said, sharing screenshots of the party's submissions related to the 2022 UP assembly elections.

If the digital receipts are found unreliable, both the EC and even 'Digital India' will fall under a shadow of doubt, Yadav had said, adding, "When the BJP exits, truth will emerge." PTI ABN ABN KSS KSS