Even after about six months of the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has not been able to get over its abysmal performance. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has blamed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for its defeat in the Assembly elections, saying that the electoral body is “dishonest”.
“The ECI was dishonest. It did not hear opposition voices. Names of a large number of voters were deleted from the electoral rolls. In Rampur, SP workers were not allowed to cast votes while in Azamgarh, red cards were issued to SP workers. Was the ECI sleeping? It did not pay heed to our complaints,” the SP chief said.
Yadav asked the poll body to improve its functioning.
In the assembly elections held between February 10 and March 7, the SP won 111 seats. Congress won two seats while the Bahujan Samaj Party was all but wiped out with just one seat as the Bharatiya Janata Party, won 255 seats and went on to form the government for a second time under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The SP’s plight was no different in the bypolls to Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha constituencies in June, after the seats fell vacant with Akhilesh Yadav and Mohammad Azam Khan resigning after being elected to the UP Assembly. The BJP wrested both the seats from the SP.
“The Election Commission of India did not hear opposition voices. Names of a large number of voters were deleted from the electoral rolls. In Rampur, SP workers were not allowed to cast votes while in Azamgarh, red cards were issued to SP workers. Was the EC sleeping? It did not pay heed to our complaints," Yadav said.
On the political developments in Bihar, Akhilesh Yadav said that the political shift in Bihar was a "positive sign" and hoped a strong alternative to the BJP would be formed in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
He also claimed that the BJP allies in Uttar Pradesh were not happy with it and would break free from the saffron party in the future.