Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has questioned the credibility and impartiality of the Election Commission over the draft Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that the exercise is being used as a deliberate attempt to manipulate voter lists ahead of elections. He claimed the revision was designed to selectively remove voters from specific social groups in order to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Speaking to reporters, Yadav said that no political party had initially opposed the Special Intensive Revision process. However, serious doubts emerged once the draft voter list was released. He alleged that nearly three crore names had been removed from the rolls and pointed out that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had earlier claimed that four crore voters would be deleted even before any official data was made public. Yadav questioned how such a precise figure could be predicted in advance and said this raised serious concerns about the transparency and independence of the Election Commission.
Yadav alleged that the revision exercise appeared to be aimed at reducing the voting strength of PDA communities, referring to backward classes, Dalits and minorities, while strengthening the electoral prospects of the BJP. He reiterated his claim that the Special Intensive Revision was similar in intent to the CAA and NRC, describing it as another method of exclusion rather than a neutral administrative process.
The former chief minister posed three specific questions to the Election Commission, demanding clarity on what he described as glaring inconsistencies in voter data. First, he questioned how the total number of voters for Assembly constituencies could be shown as 12.56 crore while the number of rural voters was listed as 12.69 crore, even though the same Booth Level Officers were responsible for preparing both sets of data.
Second, he asked how nearly 2.88 crore voters could be deleted from the Assembly draft under the same Booth Level Officers, while about 40 lakh new voters were added during the panchayat elections. He alleged that the final draft of the Special Intensive Revision for panchayat voters was being delayed by nearly 50 days to conceal these contradictions.
Third, Yadav demanded that the Election Commission clarify which of the two datasets was accurate, stating that both could not be correct at the same time. He also sought details about the officials involved in conducting the revision exercise and questioned why the list of officers had not been made public. He further asked for transparency about the technical infrastructure supporting the process, including the identity of any private company involved.
Yadav also challenged the government to disclose how many so-called infiltrators had actually been identified through the Special Intensive Revision, suggesting that such claims were being made without credible evidence.
Reiterating his long-standing demand, Yadav said voter lists should be linked with Aadhaar to eliminate duplication and errors. He argued that biometric features such as fingerprints and retina scans would automatically ensure accuracy and prevent manipulation. He also questioned the neutrality of the Election Commission, alleging a conflict of interest if companies that had donated to the BJP through electoral bonds were involved in developing election-related software or applications.
Commenting on recent Enforcement Directorate raids in West Bengal, Yadav alleged that central investigative agencies become active only in states where elections are approaching. He claimed that serious financial crimes in some regions were ignored, while agencies suddenly intensified their actions during election periods to create political pressure.
On issues related to King George’s Medical University, Yadav said the vice-chancellor must take responsibility for ensuring proper administration. He remarked that internal conflicts among people of the same political ideology should not distract from the need to fix institutional problems and restore effective governance.
