‘Trusted EC earlier, then saw discrepancies’: Akhilesh revives 2022 UP poll allegations amid SIR row

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday renewed his attack on the Election Commission, alleging discrepancies in the electoral rolls during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election and claiming that voters who had participated in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls were prevented from voting three years later. Yadav said his party had earlier trusted the poll panel but became more vigilant after discovering what he described as irregularities affecting its supporters.

His remarks came amid an intensifying political confrontation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and questions raised by Opposition parties over the Election Commission’s functioning. The poll panel has defended the SIR process, maintaining that its principal orders were unanimously approved by all three election commissioners.

‘Realised it in 2022’

Yadav said the Samajwadi Party had trusted the Election Commission during earlier elections but subsequently concluded that names of its supporters had been removed from the rolls. He alleged that people who had voted in the 2019 Lok Sabha election found themselves unable to vote in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

“This malpractice has been going on all along; the only difference now is that it has been exposed,” Yadav said. He linked the alleged deletion of voters to the Samajwadi Party’s performance in the 2022 Assembly election, though the claim remains the party’s allegation and has not been established as a finding about the election result.

The SP chief said the experience prompted his party to pay closer attention to electoral rolls ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He said party workers worked to ensure eligible supporters remained enrolled, after which the SP emerged as the largest party in Uttar Pradesh in the parliamentary election.

SIR row widens

Yadav’s remarks came as Opposition parties intensified their criticism of the Election Commission over SIR and its handling of electoral-roll revisions. The controversy has also drawn attention to reports of differences within the poll panel over decisions concerning voter registration, deletions and systems used to maintain electoral rolls.

The Election Commission has rejected suggestions that such differences meant its major SIR decisions lacked institutional approval. The poll panel has maintained that its nationwide SIR order and subsequent schedules received unanimous approval from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi.

The Commission has also announced measures covering voters issued notices during the revision, including doorstep collection of documents by Booth Level Officers in specified cases. It has additionally ordered a review of ECINet and announced changes to some of its internal procedures.

Akhilesh targets BJP

Yadav also targeted the BJP and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, alleging that the ruling party had benefited from irregularities in the electoral process. He argued that the chief minister’s defence of the Election Commission raised questions about the BJP’s position in the controversy, though he did not provide independently established evidence of collusion.

The Samajwadi Party chief maintained that the Election Commission must function impartially and ensure eligible voters are not excluded from electoral rolls. His latest remarks have added to Opposition pressure on the poll panel at a time when SIR, ECINet and the Commission’s internal decision-making have become major points of political contention.