SP chief flags ‘conspiracy’ in SIR exercise

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that a conspiracy was underway through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls to cut votes of the PDA section and increase those of a particular party. Addressing a press conference here, Yadav said no political party had opposed the SIR process, but doubts had deepened after a reputed newspaper reported that instructions were issued to increase 200 votes at every booth. This, he said, strengthened suspicions that an attempt was being made to manipulate the voter list. He demanded that all voters be linked with Aadhaar to ensure transparency and claimed that data prepared by booth-level officers for Panchayat elections differed from that of Assembly elections. He said the party would seek a probe by the Election Commission.

The SP chief said his apprehensions were proving true after the draft electoral roll was released. He claimed he had earlier feared that nearly three crore votes would be deleted, and pointed out that during the process itself the Chief Minister had publicly spoken of four crore votes being cut. Questioning how such a figure could be stated in advance, Yadav asked how impartial the exercise could be if the number was decided beforehand. Separately, the former chief minister accused the BJP government of destroying law and order in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that crime and corruption were at their peak and that women were unsafe.