Akhilesh accuses BJP, ECI of rushing voter revision

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the BJP and the Election Commission of India (ECI) of acting in haste on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, alleging that both were “working together” to undermine voters’ rights.

Addressing a Press conference at the party headquarters, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said, “Why is the BJP in a hurry regarding the SIR exercise? Both the Election Commission and the BJP are hand in glove in the matter.”

He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in Uttar Pradesh of rushing the revision process at a time when people across the state are occupied with wedding events.  “I had said earlier, too that it is the marriage season in Uttar Pradesh, and people are either travelling or busy making preparations. In such a situation, carrying out this exercise across the state and assigning responsibilities arbitrarily is unjustified,” he said.

Yadav also claimed that even sanitation workers have been designated as assistants to booth-level officers (BLOs) despite the technical nature of the forms. “The forms are lengthy and highly technical. If BLOs cannot complete them properly, how will sanitation workers manage this responsibility,” he asked.

The SP chief also alleged that the Government’s claims about the distribution of SIR forms were misleading.

“Government data says all forms have been distributed, but the situation is different on the ground. This mismatch in distribution and collection exposes a conspiracy,” he claimed.

Calling the exercise a “well-planned strategy”, Yadav alleged that the ruling party intended to weaken constitutional rights through the process.  “This is a conspiracy to snatch away the right to vote guaranteed by BR Ambedkar. Under the pretext of this revision exercise, they want to take away voting rights, end reservations, and even strip people of their identity while exerting pressure through false cases,” Yadav alleged.

He demanded “transparency” in the process and accused the BJP Government of attempting to influence the electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming elections in the state.

Yadav also referred to the recent death of a BLO, Vijay Kumar Verma, who suffered a brain haemorrhage on November 14, allegedly while working late hours on SIR duties. While meeting Verma’s family at the party headquarters, Yadav handed over financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh and demanded that the state Government provide Rs 1 crore as compensation, a government job to a family member, and benefits under all applicable welfare schemes.

Citing the statements of Verma’s relatives, Yadav claimed that the BLO collapsed while completing SIR-related tasks late at night and was declared dead by doctors due to a brain haemorrhage.

The family accused officials of attempting to portray that Verma was already relieved from duty, and was suffering from a prior illness, and had even pressured the school where he was posted as a shiksha mitra to support this narrative.

Yadav said he also met the family of another BLO, Sudhir Kumar Kori, in Fatehpur, who allegedly died by suicide due to mounting pressure to complete SIR assignments.

He claimed the family members told him that Kori had been subjected to continuous harassment over the ongoing revision work.

Yadav also accused the ECI of remaining silent during the previous by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that booths were captured, bogus voting took place, while officials allowed the ruling party to influence the voting process.

The ECI was refusing to release CCTV camera footage from different polling stations that could reveal who cast illegal votes, including individuals arriving in plain clothes, Yadav claimed.

The SP chief also said he received a letter from party MP Rajeev Rai, who complained that officials in the Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency were creating obstacles and had already deleted about 30,000 names from each of its Assembly segments.

The BJP hired a Noida-based private company to analyse digital voter lists and gather booth-wise details, including voters’ mobile numbers, by using publicly available data from the Election Commission’s website, he alleged. This was part of a broader attempt to influence the electoral process, Yadav said.