Hyderabad: In a fiery political attack that has escalated the national debate on voter verification and electoral integrity, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP and the Election Commission of orchestrating a massive voter-deletion conspiracy ahead of upcoming elections. Speaking at a public event in Telangana, Yadav alleged that lakhs—possibly crores—of citizens across Uttar Pradesh could lose their voting rights under the SIR (Systematic Voters’ List Revision) exercise.
Launching a blistering critique, Yadav said: “Those people wanted to sing Vande Mataram in the session who never sang Vande Mataram. They never sang it even before independence. They never liked the Tiranga.”
He accused the ruling party of using nationalism as a political weapon while “failing to respect it in spirit.”
The SP chief then shifted to the explosive claim that the BJP is using the SIR process to target voters from areas where the party recently suffered major electoral defeats. “Names of more than 3 crore voters will get deleted by SIR in UP. BJP and the Election Commission are conspiring to delete the names of voters where the BJP lost the elections.”
Yadav also linked the SIR exercise to a larger national policy shift, declaring: “NRC is being implemented through the SIR. This is the beginning of a nationwide exclusion drive.”
These remarks have added fresh fuel to the already heated debate on the accuracy and fairness of the voter verification overhaul. Opposition parties have repeatedly alleged that the SIR system is being misused to disproportionately target voters from certain communities and political strongholds.
Political analysts say Yadav’s aggressive intervention is part of a larger opposition realignment as multiple states gear up for crucial elections in 2025. His comments in Telangana, far from Uttar Pradesh, are being viewed as an attempt to take the issue to a national platform.
Meanwhile, the BJP has dismissed Yadav’s allegations as “baseless fear-mongering,” saying the SIR exercise is aimed only at cleaning up outdated or duplicate voter entries. The Election Commission, too, has maintained that the process follows clear guidelines and includes options for citizens to restore or verify their details.
But Yadav remains adamant: “This is not just about UP. This is about democracy itself.”
