Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has launched a sharp critique of the Election Commission of India (ECI), casting serious doubts on the transparency of a recent voter list revision exercise in Uttar Pradesh. The former Chief Minister raised these concerns during a press conference held at the party office in Lucknow on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Massive Exclusion of Voters Sparks Outcry
The core of Yadav's allegation revolves around the draft electoral roll published after a Special Intensive Revision. He expressed profound concern that the preliminary list showed a staggering exclusion of approximately 2.89 crore voters from the state's rolls. Yadav pointed out that this large-scale removal occurred despite all political parties, including their booth-level agents, having participated in the revision process without raising initial objections during the exercise itself.
Pre-emptive BJP Claims and Data Discrepancies
Akhilesh Yadav posed a pointed question that forms the basis of his suspicion: How could Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders accurately predict the number of voters to be removed even before the draft list was officially released by the Election Commission? This pre-emptive knowledge, he argued, undermines the credibility of the entire process.
Furthermore, the SP chief highlighted glaring inconsistencies in the data prepared by Booth Level Officers (BLOs). He alleged significant discrepancies between voter data compiled for Assembly elections and the figures prepared for Panchayat elections by the same officials. Yadav specifically pointed to unexplained differences between rural voter numbers and Assembly voter figures, suggesting a lack of methodological rigor or potential manipulation.
A Direct Challenge to Election Commission's Integrity
Linking these issues together, Akhilesh Yadav stated that such developments collectively raise serious concerns about the transparency and the credibility of the Election Commission of India. His press conference served as a direct challenge to the constitutional body, urging it to clarify the process and justify the massive purge of voters. The allegations come at a politically sensitive time and are likely to fuel opposition discourse around electoral integrity in India's most populous state.
The SP's move places the Election Commission under intense scrutiny, demanding a robust response to restore confidence in the electoral roll revision process ahead of future elections.
