Akhilesh Yadav alleges manipulation in voter list revision, accuses BJP of 'hiding behind institutions'

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, accusing the BJP of "hiding behind institutions" when it faces electoral challenges.

Yadav's remarks came during an interaction with reporters in Lucknow shortly after the final voter list was announced by the state election authorities.

"Going by the voter list that has come out now, one can assume that when the BJP starts losing on issues, it fights elections by hiding behind institutions," Yadav said.

He alleged that institutions such as the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and Income Tax Department have already been "exposed", and now the BJP is contesting elections "in collusion with the Election Commission".

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also claimed that the bypolls in the state witnessed "loot and dacoity", adding that even stronger words could be used to describe the situation.

Yadav further alleged discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, claiming that voter deletions were carried out using forged documents.

Citing an example, he said a voter named Nandlal had his name removed from the electoral roll using "fake signatures", despite being unable to write.

"BJP workers forged his signature and the Election Commission is not taking any action. If no action is being taken, it shows the Election Commission is with them," he alleged.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the SIR exercise was conducted from October 27, 2025, to April 10, 2026, covering all 75 districts and 403 Assembly constituencies, culminating in the publication of the final electoral roll.

He said the final list showed an increase of over 84 lakh voters from the draft list released on Jan 6, taking the total electorate to 13.39 crore.