Lucknow: While the Bharatiya Janata Party high command has maintained silence over Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s claim that 1.27 crore Hindu voters have been deleted from Uttar Pradesh voter rolls, the party’s state unit aims to increase the number of Hindu voters across constituencies—at least 50 per booth.
However, saying that there is nothing wrong with the electoral rolls, a senior BJP functionary in Delhi told reporters this week that “discussions have taken place (with Yogi)” and that “everything has been explained”.
But the chief minister and the UP unit leadership are not convinced. The party convened a meeting of district presidents and leaders in charge at BJP state headquarters in Lucknow Friday to discuss how to add nearly one crore eligible Hindu voters across the state through the exercise. Yogi was also in attendance.
A special drive, called ‘Matdata Jodo Abhiyan’ (voter addition campaign), will be conducted from 17 November to 16 December, ThePrint has learnt. CM Yogi has asked party leaders and workers to work together to ensure that eligible Hindu voters are added to the electoral rolls. The campaign will formally begin on 19 November.
The party has set a target of around 25,000 new Hindu voters in every Assembly constituency.
The decision comes ahead of the publication of the draft electoral roll under the Special Summary Revision (SSR) 2027 in Uttar Pradesh on 17 November. The process of filing claims and objections will begin the same day and continue till 16 December. These will be resolved by 28 December. The final electoral roll will be published on 4 January, 2027.
The CM has asked party workers to ensure that the names of people from BJP’s key support base are not left out of the voter list. He has also emphasised the proper use of Forms 6, 7 and 8 to add eligible voters and remove ineligible names.
According to sources in UP BJP, adding even 10,000 to 25,000 voters in every Assembly constituency could benefit the party.
Last week, Yogi had claimed that the names of 1.27 crore Hindu voters had been deleted from the electoral rolls in the state. He had questioned how the number of Hindu voters had declined, while the number of Muslim voters had increased by 1.65 percent.
A UP BJP functionary told ThePrint, “If we do not get into the technicalities of where the information came from, Yogi’s statement is politically significant, especially after the party’s setback in the MLC elections. At least now, party workers will feel that the number of Muslim voters is increasing, and that they need to work harder to add more Hindu voters. During the meeting too, he tried to convince all functionaries to focus on enrolling more Hindu voters, which will be important for 2027 Assembly elections.”
What Yogi said on ‘why Hindu voters have been deleted’
Speaking to the party’s state unit functionaries at Friday’s meeting, the chief minister attributed the alleged deletions to confusion between voter lists prepared for Assembly and panchayat elections, it is learnt.
He said that when the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was underway in the state, preparations for the panchayat electoral roll were also in process. Many voters reportedly were under the impression that their names needed to be registered in only one voter list, and got themselves enrolled in only the panchayat electoral roll—as a result of which, their names were not included in the assembly roll–he claimed.
He added that BJP workers had failed to explain to people that the voter lists for panchayat and Assembly elections were separate. This confusion, according to him, led to the deletion of names.
The BJP functionaries will now work towards ensuring that these voters are restored in the electoral rolls. Yogi has directed party workers to devote their full attention to the exercise over the next month. He has also asked the party to reach out to migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh living in other states and help them register as voters in the state.
The BJP plans to distribute Forms 6 and 8 to help voters get their names added or transferred. Party workers will be trained in both online and offline application procedures. Workers will visit households with copies of the voter list, identify eligible people whose names are missing, and help them fill out Form 6. Form 8 will be used by voters seeking to shift their names to a more convenient location.
Deputy CM warns party workers against internal disputes
Also present at the meeting Friday, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya asked party workers to remain alert and avoid settling personal scores.
“Workers should avoid the tendency to settle scores. If the government is not in power, what will you achieve by targeting someone? Strengthening the organisation is important. Workers must understand that only when the government remains in power will they get positions as well,” Maurya remarked.
He also referred to the leaders recently sent to Rajya Sabha, pointing out that they too had risen through the ranks as party workers.
He acknowledged that there could be resentment among workers, but said that it should not affect organisational work. Maurya did not name anyone, but his remarks appeared to be directed at disgruntled party workers. There have been reports of a lack of enthusiasm among BJP workers in several areas, with some expressing dissatisfaction with both the government and organisation. The party leadership is now making efforts to address these concerns and bring workers back on board.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)