Sarojini Nagar

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP, accusing the party of manipulating voter lists and election results. Speaking in Saifai on Saturday, he said electoral authorities and the administration are helping the BJP win unfairly.

Akhilesh was in Saifai to mark the death anniversary of his father and SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav. He questioned why the BJP was defending the poll panel. He said several parties had questioned the chief election commissioner and sought his resignation. He added that the EC is a constitutional body that must make fair decisions and keep its credibility. He alleged that the BJP wanted to restrict voting rights to its own people.

"The fight will continue until we remove the BJP from power. If the BJP goes, the Election Commission will also be reformed. For this to happen, people have to cast every vote against the BJP," he said.

Akhilesh said voters were denied their rights during bypolls. He also said attempts were made during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) to delete SP supporters from voter rolls. He said SP's PDA praharis caught people filing Form-7 applications to remove names, including through a BJP office.

In Sultanpur, he alleged that fake signatures of Nandlal Nishad, who used a thumb impression and did not know how to sign, were used on applications to delete names of several SP voters. He also said more than 100 applications were filed in Dashrath's name in Lucknow's Sarojini Nagar Assembly constituency. One person could submit no more than five applications.

Talking about Mirapur, he alleged that a police officer pointed a revolver at people and tried to stop them, especially women, from voting. He also said plainclothes police personnel voted at several places.

Akhilesh said technology was being used centrally to decide whose names appeared on voter lists. He warned that deleting names from the rolls could stop people from getting government welfare schemes and other facilities.

He also claimed that Didi had deliberately been made to lose an election in West Bengal, which he said had been "looted" with the deployment of more than 300,000 personnel.

Akhilesh, along with almost the entire Yadav family, paid tribute at the memorial of SP patriarch on Saturday. He reached Saifai in the morning. His wife and Mainpuri MP Dimple, uncle Shivpal, Mainpuri's Karhal Assembly MLA Tej Pratap Singh Yadav, other family members and party leaders were also present.

A Socialist Museum is being built there in Mulayam Singh Yadav's memory.