Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that Booth Level Officers in Uttar Pradesh are being subjected to excessive work pressure for the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists. He questioned the urgency being shown by the Bharatiya Janata Party and said that the ongoing wedding season in the state has made it difficult for people to spare time for such work. Despite this, he claimed, the administration is forcing municipal sanitation workers to assist in filling forms. Yadav said that during his visit to Fatehpur, he learnt about a supervisor who allegedly died by suicide due to pressure from authorities over SIR-related duties. He demanded answers from the government on why it is rushing the process. He also referenced criticism from political voices in West Bengal who, he claimed, believe the election commission has blood on its hands. He said the SIR was a conspiracy involving the BJP and the Election Commission. The Samajwadi Party will launch street protests after raising the issue in Parliament.
During his visit, Yadav met the family of Vijay Kumar Verma, a deceased BLO from Malihabad, and handed over financial assistance of two lakh rupees to his wife Sangeeta. A day earlier, Yadav had appealed to Opposition parties as well as NDA allies to unite and expose what he called the BJP’s plot to cut votes. He alleged that parties supporting the BJP would be the first to be weakened by it. He urged citizens to leave aside other work and prevent irregularities in the SIR process. He accused the govt of cheating the democratic system. If voter names can be removed today, he warned, tomorrow people may lose their land, homes, ration cards, caste certificates and reservation benefits. He added that the conspiracy could reach bank accounts and the lockers of the middle class, pushing the country into a situation worse than colonial rule. Yadav also alleged that the PDA alliance in Bihar did not lose the election but was deliberately defeated. He said the BJP fears the growing influence of the PDA and avoids conducting a caste census since it would weaken its own political prospects.