UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has alleged that the names of around 1.27 crore Hindu voters are not on the state's voter list, while the number of Muslim voters has significantly increased during the Aaj Tak Panchayat programme held on Saturday. Targeting the opposition parties, CM Yogi said that misinformation around the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being circulated and challenged Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, to demand the withdrawal of the SIR exercise.
CM Yogi Questions Missing Names Of Hindu Voters
CM Yogi also questioned the absence of a large number of Hindu voters from the Election Commission's electoral rolls, alleging that the Samajwadi Party was reluctant to demand a rollback of the SIR exercise because of an increase in Muslim voter numbers following the revision.
Citing a memorandum submitted by the BJP to the Election Commission, the Chief Minister called for a review of the missing names and verification of voter records. He pointed out that several people listed in panchayat election records could not find their names in the ECI's electoral rolls.
He alleged that the discrepancy involved nearly 66 lakh voters registered in panchayat records, 55 lakh Hindu beneficiaries of government welfare schemes and another 4.5 lakh people in the 18-19 age group.
After removing the names of deceased voters, the names of other eligible voters should have been included. But that has not happened. We are demanding the removal of Bangladeshi infiltrators and the inclusion of Hindu voters who have been left out. We have submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission and hope that all eligible names will be included soon,” he said
UP CM Urges ECI For An Investigation
Adityanath urged the Election Commission to investigate the matter and ensure that no eligible voter was left out of the electoral list. "We have also submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission, seeking an explanation for the reasons behind these changes,” the chief minister said.
Akhilesh Yadav Takes A Dig At CM Yogi
Questioning the source of CM Yogi's figures, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav said how the Chief Minister can know about the religious breakdown of voter deletions and additions when the EC has not yet announced any such figures.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the SP chief took to his X handle and raised concerns about the electoral process. He suggested some important steps that should be incorporated for proper electoral exercise. He wrote, "Aadhaar should be linked to voting. Instead of paper or plastic cards, metal cards should be issued so that they cannot be duplicated. Biometric identification through fingerprints or iris scans should also be adopted, as these are unique to every individual. This would prevent the BJP from facilitating bogus voting.