Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has launched a scathing attack against the Election Commission of India (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging a conspiracy to manipulate voter rolls in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Yadav claims that the BJP, in collusion with the EC, is planning to remove approximately 50,000 votes from each Assembly constituency where the SP and its allies in the INDIA bloc performed well in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He alleged this is being done under the pretext of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Yadav made these allegations during a press conference held on Saturday, which coincided with the 85th birth anniversary of his father, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav. He asserted that the SP has received information about preparations underway to remove votes in constituencies where the party secured victories in the 2024 elections. He also claimed to have evidence of this conspiracy, including a purportedly leaked audio clip featuring the Kannauj Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM).

"The BJP government and the Election Commission are preparing to delete over 50,000 voters in each Assembly constituency won by the SP or the INDIA bloc, using SIR as a pretext," Yadav stated. "This is happening in Uttar Pradesh and in West Bengal. We are alert". He further added that the BJP and the Election Commission are primarily focusing on Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal following the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav criticized the timing of the SIR, stating that conducting it during the wedding and farming season was inappropriate. He also alleged that Block Level Officers (BLOs) were not conducting door-to-door verifications and that the SIR drive was being carried out without proper preparation and training for BLOs. He demanded that the EC extend the timeline for the voter roll cleanup exercise in Uttar Pradesh and issue a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the SIR process.

The SP chief also alluded to alleged irregularities in the recent by-elections, claiming that the Election Commission did not take action on several complaints filed by his party. He said that names of voters were removed on a large scale in 2022. He urged the Election Commission to issue SOPs to political parties regarding the process and what to do.

Yadav didn't shy away from taking a jibe at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying he was ready to "jump in the ring whenever asked," while seemingly questioning Adityanath's ability to do the same.

These allegations come in the wake of the opposition's poor performance in the recent Bihar Assembly elections. The Samajwadi Party seems to be intensifying its efforts to counter the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, with Yadav alleging a "major scam" in the form of SIR. He said that the party will have to fight the paper battle as well as win elections.

Yadav emphasized that his party is conducting regular booth-level reviews and has instructed workers to ensure that every voter's name is correctly listed. He also claimed that similar tactics were used in Bihar, where a large number of voters from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and other opposition parties were allegedly removed. He also claimed that the present SIR exercise was being conducted to influence next year's assembly elections in West Bengal.