Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 26 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav alleged that her party had been raising concerns over alleged irregularities in voter lists and said strict action should be taken against officials responsible for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Reacting to an Indian Express report saying that two Election Commissioners had raised objections over discrepancies in the SIR process, Dimple Yadav on Friday said, "The Samajwadi Party had been claiming all along that there was rigging regarding the voter list and that votes were being deleted."
She further said that during the 2022 elections, the Election Commission had issued a notice to the SP national president seeking affidavits regarding voter-related complaints.
"The party subsequently submitted affidavits for approximately 4,000 voters. However, there was no follow-up response via email from the Election Commission," she added.
Dimple Yadav said accountability should also extend to officials involved in the process.
"It must be acknowledged that the Election Commission, including the Chief Election Commissioner, bears responsibility for this, as do the officials who executed the entire process. The strictest possible action should be taken against all of them," she said.
Her remarks came amid a political row over the SIR exercise after an Indian Express report said that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process.
The Opposition parties, including Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Shiv Sena (UBT) and Left parties, have launched an attack on the Election Commission, alleging concerns over electoral transparency and demanding accountability.
Congress workers staged demonstrations in several states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur, as part of the party's nationwide programme on Thursday against the functioning of the Election Commission and its handling of the SIR exercise.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the issue involved evidence and should not be dismissed as a political allegation. "There are facts, there is evidence. It is there for the whole country to see. My brother has shown it in many different press conferences. He has put the evidence forward. Now it is very clear, 13 crore voters have been deleted," she said.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also demanded accountability over the reported differences within the poll panel, saying the Chief Election Commissioner should step down.
"Those who caused these differences in the Election Commission should resign on their own. The entire Opposition and all those who want to save democracy are demanding that when such allegations have been levelled, the CEC should resign on his own and leave. He snatched away the election," Akhilesh Yadav said.
Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram questioned the ECI's assertion that all decisions were taken unanimously and demanded that relevant records be made public.
"Our accusation is that the Chief Election Commissioner is doing the work of the BJP. He represents the BJP. If the Election Commission has issued a statement that all decisions were taken unanimously—then make the files public," he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP has rejected the Opposition's allegations, calling them attempts to divert attention from electoral defeats. Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal questioned the charges, saying that if the Election Commission was biased, the Opposition would not have won elections in states like Keralam.
Union Minister and key NDA ally Chirag Paswan, however, said the Election Commission should firmly present its position on the allegations to maintain public trust in the electoral process.
"If such questions are being raised against the Election Commission, I believe it is also the responsibility of the Election Commission, especially the CEC, to firmly present its side," Paswan said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission has maintained that internal technical notes and written queries are part of the normal functioning of a multi-member body and asserted that all final decisions related to the SIR process were taken unanimously with legal sanction.
The ECI maintained that all final decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to the SIR exercise, were unanimous and carried the approval of all three commissioners. (ANI)
SP had claimed voter list rigging all along; strict action should be taken against officials: Dimple Yadav on SIR row
