Lucknow,

22 Nov (HS): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP government

and the Election Commission on Saturday of scheming to remove more over 50,000

voters from each Assembly constituency where his party and the INDIA alliance

performed well in the last general elections. The charges arose during the

ongoing special intense review of electoral records in Uttar Pradesh and 11

other states.

Holding

presser at party headquarters on his father's birth anniversary, Mulayam Singh

Yadav stated, We have received information that the BJP, in collaboration

with the Election Commission, is making major preparations in Uttar Pradesh and

West Bengal. The Samajwadi Party president believes that SIR should not be

carried out during the wedding season and has asked the election commission to

extend the timetable for Uttar Pradesh's voter record cleaning effort.

Citing

electoral statistics, he stated that the BJP won 255 seats in the 2022 Uttar

Pradesh Assembly elections but led just 162 Assembly segments in the 2024 Lok

Sabha elections. The SP, which won 111

Assembly seats in 2022, led in 183 assembly seats in the previous year's Lok

Sabha elections. He pointed up that the Congress, which had only won two

Assembly seats in 2022, led in 40 Assembly seats during the general elections. Using

the statistics, Yadav said that the BJP introduced SIR as a plot after losing

ground. We anticipated the poll commission to be unbiased, but its involvement

in the recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh created worries.We made multiple

complaints, but no action was taken, he said.

Yadav

further claimed that the BJP administration and the Election Commission are

planning to remove nearly 50,000 voters from each Assembly constituency won by

the SP or INDIA alliance, using SIR as an excuse. This is happening in both Uttar Pradesh and

West Bengal. We are vigilant. The

Samajwadi Party chief further alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission

were largely focused on Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal following the 2024 Lok

Sabha election results. He encouraged party office-bearers and workers to

thoroughly examine voter lists, meet with booth level authorities, ensure

qualified voters are added, and report any discrepancies to party headquarters

promptly. Yadav also played an audio clip of a conversation between two people,

allegedly including a sub-divisional magistrate, about technical aspects of the

SIR exercise.

He

used his own constituency, Kannauj, as an example, stating that it, too, had

become a target. Kannauj previously served as India's capital. Everyone is aware of Emperor Harshavardhan's

involvement in it. Those who can take

his monument from Prayagraj before the Mahakumbh can undoubtedly remove

voters. That's exactly what they are doing.

Yadav

demanded that the Election Commission create a clear standard operating

procedure for political parties for the SIR exercise and requested extra time

for the state's voter roll cleansing. There are 414 days till the

election. The scheme involves removing

more than 50,000 votes from each Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He stated that the workers of the Samajwadi

Party are completely prepared to oppose this.

In

memory of his father, the founder of the Samajwadi Party and a three-time chief

minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yadav stated that they had previously resolved to

launch the 'Netaji Memorial' on November 22 next year. Today, on his birth

anniversary, I emphasize that the memorial will be inaugurated with a great

ceremony, he stated. He further stated that top students and gold

medalists from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University were honored with

iPads in Mulayam Singh Yadav's memory.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi