Lucknow:
At the BJP state executive committee meeting on Friday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urged party workers to remain vigilant over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, claiming that the names of crores of Hindus were missing from the voter lists.
The Chief Minister claimed that the names of 1.27 crore Hindus were missing from the electoral rolls and stressed the need to ensure that all eligible voters were included.
He said the alleged deletions were weakening the party’s position in 28 urban local body constituencies. Citing population figures, Adityanath argued that Uttar Pradesh should have more than 16 crore voters, against the current electorate of approximately 13 crore.
He also pointed out that 66 lakh people whose names figure in the panchayat electoral rolls were missing from the Assembly constituency voter lists.
Similarly, the names of 55 lakh beneficiaries of government welfare schemes were allegedly absent from the electoral rolls. Around 4.5 lakh young people in the 18-19 age group were also missing from the lists, he said.
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Adityanath expressed concern that only four lakh voters had been added to the state’s electoral rolls during the previous SIR exercise.
He instructed BJP workers to coordinate with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to ensure that all eligible voters were included in the rolls and called for regular reviews of the exercise.
MPs, MLAs and party office-bearers have also been tasked with ensuring that Hindu voters are included in the electoral rolls.
Meanwhile, more than 2.04 crore voters were removed from Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls following the SIR exercise, with deletions largely concentrated in urban areas and a higher proportion of women voters affected. More than 84 lakh new voters were added, taking the final electorate to 13,39,84,792, according to data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
This is not the first time Adityanath has raised concerns over the alleged exclusion of Hindu voters from electoral rolls. In the past, too, he has urged BJP workers to ensure that their names are included in the voter lists.
