'NRC in disguise': Akhilesh Yadav says BJP deleting votes where it lost; makes big claim against SIR

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday alleged that the BJP is planning a larger conspiracy of removing voters opposed to BJP, as he claimed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Uttar Pradesh, calling it "NRC in disguise."

Addressing reporters in Hyderabad, Yadav accused the BJP and the Election Commission of using SIR as a backdoor method to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC).




"More than three crore votes are at risk of being cut in Uttar Pradesh," he claimed.

"If such large-scale vote removal happens, and if the BJP and the Election Commission are conspiring to delete votes where the BJP has lost, it amounts to a conspiracy in democracy. This is not the intended purpose of the SIR," he added.

He further claimed that more than three crore voters in Uttar Pradesh were at risk of being removed from the rolls. “This is not SIR. This is NRC in the guise of SIR. They could not implement NRC directly, so they have brought it in another form,” Yadav said

He alleged that large-scale deletions were being planned in constituencies where the BJP had lost elections. "If votes are deleted selectively with the connivance of the Election Commission, it amounts to a conspiracy against democracy," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

Yadav said the Election Commission should focus on increasing voter participation instead of creating hurdles for voters. Comparing the SIR exercise to demonetisation, the Covid-19 lockdown and the rollout of GST, he said ordinary citizens were once again being inconvenienced.

"If NRC is implemented, people are asked to show certain documents. The same documents are now being demanded under SIR. The purpose is the same," he said.

Akhilesh Yadav is in Hyderabad attending the Vision India–AI Summit. He also met Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy and discussed the political situation. An official release said Reddy briefed him on the state government’s development and welfare initiatives.

Yadav praised Reddy’s decision to recognise ‘Sadar’, a festival celebrated by the Yadav community in Hyderabad, as a state festival, saying the community would always remember the chief minister for the move.
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