Lucknow, Nov 28 : SP president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday made a fresh attack on the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming it was a “big conspiracy” against the people of the country that could push citizens into a state “worse than the colonial era.”
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesperson Harishchandra Srivastava hit back at Yadav, saying that the SP chief is making a malicious attempt to spread fear and confusion among the public through his post.
Posting a 20-second video on the SIR process on his official X handle on Thursday evening, Yadav appealed to all opposition parties, including allies of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to “unite and expose this mega-conspiracy of the BJP.”
Attacking the roll revision exercise, he charged, “This is fraud with democracy. People must stay alert. Today, votes are being cut, tomorrow names will be removed from land records, ration cards, caste certificates, reservations, and later even from bank accounts and lockers of the middle-class.”
In a detailed post, the SP chief said, “This is a major conspiracy against the people of this country, which will lead to a situation far worse than the colonial era. This is the time to wake up and protect every single vote.”
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister warned that parties currently supporting the BJP would be the “first to be finished,” and called on citizens to “drop everything and stop the fraud taking place under SIR.”
Accusing the BJP, its allies, the state government, and “some corrupt officials in the Election Commission” of attempting to take over the entire electoral system, Yadav said, “Let us unite to save the country from the open loot by BJP leaders and their allies, and to save our identity represented through our vote. Otherwise, tomorrow they will declare themselves as outsiders.”
Later, Srivastava hit back at Yadav, saying that the SP chief is making a malicious attempt to spread fear and confusion among the public through his post, but he will not succeed.
“This is Digital India, the public knows the truth, and they cannot be misled. The atmosphere created by the opposition parties regarding reservations during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is no longer possible because the public has understood the truth, there is no truth in the allegations of the opposition parties,” the BJP state spokesperson said.
He further noted that for the SIR exercise, the chief electoral officers of the states have called a meeting of all the opposition parties and appealed to them to appoint Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of their respective parties, to ensure that all political parties can access the names of individuals registered at the booth level in the voter list through SIR, eliminating any opportunities to complain about names being deleted from the SIR.
As a result, he asserted, the opposition parties’ attempts to mislead the public will have no impact.
Meanwhile, the SIR exercise is underway in nine states and three Union territories.
The Election Commission (EC) said its booth-level officers (BLOs) have fanned out to hand over semi-filled enumeration forms to electors and will also help them fill the required document. (PTI)
