Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday termed the Election Commission’s action over alleged SIR-related irregularities in the electoral rolls of the Pilibhit assembly constituency as a “good beginning” and called for similar action on a bunch of complaints and affidavits filed by his party concerning electoral rolls and the recent MLC polls.Akhilesh’s remarks came a day after the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) UP announced that legal action will be taken against those responsible for irregularities in 10,470 entries in the electoral rolls in the Pilibhit assembly seat. SP had flagged the irregularities and claimed that the seat won by under 7,000 votes had 10,470 questionable voter entries.Action has been ordered against two electoral registration officers (EROs), along with termination of the services of a computer assistant at the constituency’s Voter Registration Centre.“Finally, there is a good start. Probably the EC might now also take note of the thousands of affidavits submitted by our party regarding election-related irregularities,” Akhilesh stated.The former UP CM’s statement was being seen in the light of around 18,000 complaints and sworn affidavits on stamp papers from affected voters (including backward and most backward class communities) that the party had submitted earlier with the ECI alleging unlawful deletion of names from electoral rolls during the 2022 state assembly polls and bypolls.His statement came on a day when the party submitted a fresh memorandum with the CEO UP demanding repoll at booths that were allegedly captured by BJP candidates during the MLC elections on Friday. The SP has sought repoll at least seven booths in Amroha, five in Agra and one each in Pratapgarh and Fatehpur districts.‘Agarwal community hurt by BJP’s high-handedness’Akhilesh also condemned the manner in which the party candidate for the Agra (Teachers/Graduate) MLC seat, Akash Agarwal, and his election managers were harassed by the district administration. He said the entire Agarwal community was deeply hurt by BJP govt’s high-handedness during the MLC polls.Akash broke down before the media, narrating the ordeal that he and his election managers went through at the hands of the state police and the administration in the run-up to the voting for the MLC polls held on Friday.Akhilesh said BJP leaders, their associates, and govt officials crossed all limits of electoral malpractice and irregularities.He added that the party stands with Akash and will recognise his contributions once SP is voted to form govt in the 2027 polls.
