UP: Chief Electoral Officer says computers are not casteist, warns of action over forged voter slips

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa on Monday rejected allegations of caste bias over erroneous entries in voter slips, saying computers and software were not casteist, while warning that those responsible for circulating forged voter slips would face action under the law.

Rinwa was responding to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who questioned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a voter slip in which the name “Ramhit Yadav” was rendered as “Ram ne Yadav ko Maara” (Ram hit Yadav).

In a post on X in Hindi, Singh asked why Ram had hit only a Yadav and not people bearing surnames such as Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai or Bisht. He also questioned whether the computer was casteist or being used to further a political party’s agenda.

Responding sarcastically, Rinwa said a similarly bizarre entry, “Ram ne Sharma ko Maara”, was also present in the voter list for the recently held legislative council elections.

“We accept that an error was made, but fortunately, even while making the error, no caste discrimination took place. Thank God that Ram did not hit a minority. Otherwise, besides being accused of casteism, we would have also faced allegations of communalism,” he said in his post.

The CEO’s office also shared a voter slip listing the voter’s name as Ravi Sharma, while his father’s name appeared as “Ram ne Sharma ko Maara”.

In a subsequent post, Rinwa said some “bizarre-looking names” had appeared in the voter list during the recent legislative council elections. The reasons for the errors were being examined, and appropriate steps were being taken to prevent their recurrence, he said.

Rinwa also alleged that some forged voter slips had gone viral on social media and were being displayed or circulated by established media outlets and prominent individuals. The person responsible for the forgery would be dealt with according to law, he said.

Urging people to verify electoral-roll information with the concerned officials before sharing or publishing it as fact, the CEO said officials would promptly respond to factual queries.

Last week, Rinwa had explained that the software used to prepare electoral records was designed to transliterate names entered in English into Hindi. In some cases, however, it translated the words instead of transliterating them, producing incorrect entries.

For instance, when “Ramhit Yadav” was mistakenly entered as “Ram Hit Yadav”, the software translated the phrase into Hindi as “Ram ne Yadav ko Maara”, he had said. Although the errors could have been corrected through the editing feature, some remained in the final list.

Another instance in which “B.Com” appeared in place of a father’s name in the electoral roll for the legislative council polls appeared to be a case of human error or negligence, Rinwa had said.

Polling for 11 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council was held on October 23, with counting scheduled for October 27.