Lucknow: ‘Ram Ne Yadav Ko Mara’, ‘Murkhchand Yadav’ and ‘Mohammad Pagal Rehan’. Believe it or not, these are names, and they appeared on voter lists for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, triggering a social media storm.
Several users shared memes and questioned the accuracy of electoral rolls. On Thursday, the Election Commission ordered an inquiry into the alleged discrepancies and initiated corrective measures.
The controversy erupted in Prayagraj Wednesday after Dr Man Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party candidate and sitting MLC, alleged errors in voter slips for the Allahabad-Jhansi graduate constituency. He questioned the Election Commission over discrepancies in voters’ and their fathers’ names.
Yadav alleged that some voter slips carried ‘B.Com’ in the column meant for the father’s name. Another slip purportedly mentioned ‘Ram Ne Yadav Ko Mara (Ram hit Yadav)’ as a name and ‘Murkh Chand Yadav (Idiot Chand Yadav)’ in the column for the father’s name. The SP candidate lodged a complaint with the district magistrate, seeking action over the alleged irregularities.
Taking a dig at the electoral authorities, Yadav said the errors raised serious questions about the preparation of voter lists. He sarcastically remarked that it appeared as if the list had been prepared by someone under the influence of alcohol.
The Election Commission has sought an inquiry report from the Jhansi divisional commissioner, who is also the electoral registration officer for the constituency. The commission had directed him to submit the report by Thursday afternoon after taking note of the unusual names circulating on social media. The report has been submitted, but details are not yet known.
Other names being shared online include ‘Takkar Marna’ and ‘Mohammad Pagal Rehan’. Some posts have also alleged that unusual entries appear in the columns meant for father’s names. However, the authenticity of these entries has not been independently verified but several Opposition leaders shared them on social media.
Voting for 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, including five graduate and six teacher constituencies is scheduled for October 23. A total of 15.48 lakh voters are registered across these constituencies, with 2,697 polling stations set up for the elections. As many as 152 candidates are in the fray.
BJP alleges 4,397 duplicate entries
The ruling BJP has also lodged a complaint alleging irregularities in the electoral rolls for the Allahabad-Jhansi graduate constituency. The party claims that a large number of fake and duplicate voter entries have been included in the list.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer, BJP leaders sought an inquiry and the removal of duplicate entries. The party also submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate, following which the administration directed officials to verify the alleged duplicates.
BJP’s UP unit has claimed that the voter list contains 4,397 duplicate entries. According to the party’s complaint, 3,163 such entries are in Prayagraj, 320 in Kaushambi, 179 in Jalaun and 178 in Jhansi. The party has also cited 140 entries in Banda, 139 in Fatehpur, 109 in Lalitpur, 81 in Hamirpur, 68 in Chitrakoot and 20 in Mahoba.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has campaigned extensively for the elections; on the other hand Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav appealed to voters through social media, urging them to exercise their franchise in the MLC polls.
Action on Pilibhit SIR complaints
Meanwhile, the UP election commission has initiated action after Congress filed complaints over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls in Pilibhit.
Congress’ UP unit Wednesday alleged that discrepancies affected more than 16,000 voters in the Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency alone. During the inquiry, officials reportedly found cases in which entering some voters’ EPIC numbers online displayed details of other voters.
Taking cognisance of the complaints, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa alerted the Pilibhit district magistrate. Two sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) have since been removed from their posts, and an FIR has been initiated against them, according to the information provided by authorities.
Rinwa said complaints regarding electoral rolls would be investigated wherever they emerged. He has directed the district election officer in Pilibhit to conduct a detailed examination of the voter lists across all Assembly constituencies in the district and submit a comprehensive report within two days.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Wait now the opposition wants SIR ? Can we just do a lobotomy on them so that we can fix their brains (if they actually exist).