Akhilesh releases affidavit copies filed with ECI, takes swipe at poll watchdog

NEw new delhi: Samajwadi company (SP) chair Akhilesh Yadav on mon distributed copies of affidavits he said to feature filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale voter deletions and irregularities in Uttar Pradesh during the 2022 Assembly polls.Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Yadav said nearly 18,000 affidavits had been prepared and submitted within the deadline given to him after he received a notice from the poll body. “When I received the notice, I sought help from SP workers, and we managed to prepare only 18,000 affidavits within the given time frame. If we had more time, we could have prepared many more. If no investigation or action is taken after submitting these affidavits, then who will trust the Election Commission? In the by-elections, this was not a minor theft; it was a massive robbery,” PTI quoted him as saying.The affidavits, according to Yadav, related to anomalies in constituencies such as Amapur, Bakshi Ka Talab, Jaunpur Sadar and Kursi. He said these documented cases of voter deletions, which he alleged were carried out in a targeted manner against certain communities. “Communities like Maurya, Pal, Bhagel and Rathore have seen voter deletions aimed at weakening their political impact. In some seats, we lost by narrow margins, and these deletions played a direct role,” he said.Yadav also raised concerns over the conduct of election officials, alleging that their deployment was carried out on caste lines and had influenced the outcome in several constituencies. He demanded that the EC take strict action against officials responsible for irregularities in the rolls. “If the Election Commission orders the suspension of the district magistrate, there will be no vote theft at all,” he added.The SP chief further alleged that the EC was functioning under pressure from the BJP, and accused it of failing to take any substantive steps to address the complaints raised by his party. “No steps have been taken by the Election Commission yet because it seems to function under the instructions of the BJP,” he said.The development comes a day after Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar said at a press conference that the poll body had not received any affidavits from Uttar Pradesh or from Yadav. “The Commission has not received such affidavits from Uttar Pradesh,” he had told reporters in response to questions on the issue.Yadav’s statements come against the backdrop of the ongoing political debate over deletions in electoral rolls. Opposition parties, including the SP and Congress, have alleged that the process has been used to disproportionately affect backward and minority voters, while the EC has maintained that deletions are part of a routine clean-up of the rolls.By placing the affidavits in the public domain, Yadav sought to underline his claim that the deletions had altered outcomes in several seats during the 2022 elections and could undermine trust in future polls unless investigated.