StatesUttar Pradesh
Akhilesh accuses BJP and Election Commission of rigging UP rolls; Rajbhar says SP fears defeat
The Samajwadi Party chief cited Form 7 objections filed in Lucknow and Sultanpur. Minister Om Prakash Rajbhar asked whether the SP's 2024 win was honest too.
Key points
- Akhilesh Yadav alleged a man in Sarojini Nagar was made to fill more than 100 Form 7 applications.
- He said the Election Commission had disclosed details of only 71.38 lakh of about 87 lakh Form 6 applications.
- UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar said the SP was preparing excuses for 2027.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the BJP and the Election Commission of working together to manipulate Uttar Pradesh’s voter rolls, citing what he said were bulk objections filed against SP supporters during the Special Intensive Revision.
“The Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party are working together to deceive India’s democracy,” he told reporters in Lucknow.
Akhilesh said a man named Dashrath in Lucknow’s Sarojini Nagar had been made to fill in more than 100 Form 7 applications, the form used to object to a name on the roll. He said SP workers had exposed it and the Election Commission had acknowledged the complaint. Earlier in the day, speaking to party workers at the SP headquarters, he cited a similar case in Sultanpur.
He also questioned the additions to the roll. About 87 lakh Form 6 applications for new voters were filed and 84.30 lakh people were added to the final roll, he said, but the Commission had made details public for only 71.38 lakh applications.
He told workers that little time was left before the 2027 election and asked them to stay disciplined. “The PDA will move forward. Those who try to stop the PDA will not be able to do so,” he said, referring to the SP’s pitch to backward classes, Dalits and minorities.
Rajbhar’s retort
Om Prakash Rajbhar, a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, said the SP was building a false story to explain away a defeat. He pointed to the SP’s 37 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
“Akhilesh Yadav ji, just tell us one thing. Did the 2024 Lok Sabha elections happen honestly or not?” Rajbhar wrote on X. “Either your voters in ‘24 were fake, or you’re openly spreading rumours today.”
The exchange came as INDIA bloc parties kept up protests against the revision across the country.