UP: Shivpal alleges intimidation of poll staff by BJP, deletion of PDA voters during SIR in Etawah

Etawah (UP), Feb 4 (PTI) Samajwadi Party national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav on Wednesday accused BJP workers of intimidating and assaulting booth-level officers during the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls to get the names of PDA voters deleted in Etawah using Form-7.

Yadav met District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukla at the district headquarters and raised the issue, warning of protests if corrective action was not taken.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Samajwadi Party leader alleged that workers linked to the ruling BJP were threatening booth-level officers (BLOs) and misusing Form-7 to seek deletion of votes belonging to minorities and PDA communities – an political acronym coined by party chief Akhilesh Yadav for ‘Pichhda’ (backward), Dalits, and ‘Alpsankhyak’ (minorties).

According to the Election Commission, Form-7 is filled out to get the name of a voter deleted from the existing electoral roll.

Claiming that even “small-time” BJP leaders were putting pressure on the election officials, Shivpal Yadav said, “They issue threats despite having no support of their own. The media is aware of what is happening on the ground.” He also said the district magistrate has assured him to look into the matter.

However, he warned that if any BLO, booth-level agent (BLA) or any other person is threatened again during the SIR process, the Samajwadi Party would stage a sit-in at the district headquarters.

“If such actions continue, we will begin our agitation from here itself,” he said.

On Tuesday, Akhilesh Yadav had accused the Election Commission of teaming up with the BJP to delete the names of PDA voters from the electoral roll through Form-7.

Addressing a press conference, Yadav said, “Voting is the biggest right in a democracy, and there should not be any fraud with it. But the ECI has teamed up with the BJP and made a plan to delete the names of the PDA voters from the electoral roll through Form-7 in Uttar Pradesh.” PTI COR KIS ARI