Political turmoil erupts in U P over Form-7, SP claims thousands of votes were deleted

Political controversy has intensified over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Uttar Pradesh. The opposition, particularly the Samajwadi Party, has alleged a conspiracy to remove voters' names from the list by submitting fake Form-7s on a large scale. The SP claims that a target has been set to delete 7,000 to 15,000 votes in each assembly constituency, while the Election Commission and the Bharatiya Janata Party are categorically denying these allegations.

The second phase of the SIR in Uttar Pradesh was scheduled to be completed on March 6th, but on the same day, the Chief Electoral Officer announced a one-month extension, making the deadline for submitting claims and objections—Form 7—March 6th. Since the draft voter list was published, the opposition has been raising serious questions about the SIR process. The most significant allegation concerns Form 7, which the Samajwadi Party has claimed is a flawed form.

Akhilesh alleges conspiracy, BJP responds

The SP alleges that Form 7 is being used to remove names from the voter list. The BJP has hatched a plan to delete 7,000 to 15,000 votes from each assembly constituency. Calling it a major conspiracy, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleges that the Election Commission is complicit in the vote-deleting process. However, both the BJP and the Election Commission have consistently denied this. The BJP maintains that the SIR is the Election Commission's responsibility. The party's job is to ensure that no valid voters are excluded from the list and no invalid voters are included. The BJP is dismissing Akhilesh Yadav's allegations as panic over a potential defeat.

Questions on the Election Commission's functioning

The Samajwadi Party alleges that dozens of Form-7s were submitted by a single individual in several districts, including Jaunpur, Sultanpur, Meerut, Kannauj, and Lucknow, specifically targeting voters from the PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) and minority communities. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav held a special press conference in Lucknow on February 3rd and presented the fake Form-7s recovered from four assembly constituencies to the media. He called it a major conspiracy against democracy and also questioned the Election Commission.

Case Reported

• Sultanpur: Allegations of filing dozens of Form-7s in the name of Nandlal. The name and address were correct, but the signatures were declared fake because Nandlal uses a thumbprint.

• Lucknow: More than 100 Form-7s were submitted in the name of Dashrath in Sarojini Nagar, but Dashrath is untraceable.

• Meerut: BLO video goes viral, DM announces action.

• Jaunpur: In a conversation with TV9 Bharatvarsh, the BLO said that the BJP booth president had submitted 17 forms and asked for the votes to be cancelled.

• Kannauj: A BJP leader submitted 7 Forms. Seeing the matter being exposed, he denied the allegations and said that someone had submitted fake Forms in his name. The SP booth president called it a conspiracy to cancel PDA votes.

• Sultanpur: Allegations of 172 votes of a single Muslim family being cancelled. The DM assured action.

• Sultanpur: The Samajwadi Party also announced a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for a BLO who exposed the irregularities.

According to the Election Commission, data as of February 4th:

• Total voters in the draft voter list: 12,55,56,025

• Total Form 6: 54,37,850

• Total Form 7: 1,33,650

• Number of Form 6s submitted by BLAs: 37,789

• Number of Form 6s & 6As submitted by citizens: 37,81,487

• Total number of Form 6s submitted after the draft was released: 38,19,276

• Number of Form 6s submitted before the draft was released: 16,18,574

• Total number of Form 6s submitted as of February 4th: 54,37,850

• Number of Form 7s submitted by BLAs for deletion of names from the voter list: 1,567

• ⁠Number of Form 7s before the draft was issued: 49,399

• ⁠Number of Form 7s submitted by citizens after the draft was issued: 82,684

• ⁠Total number of Form 7s so far: 1,33,650