Lucknow, Oct 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday pitched for linking the voters' list with Aadhaar and other biometric verification tools, arguing that this was the need of the hour given the scale of electoral irregularities and manipulation of electoral rolls by those in power.
The SP supremo made the demand during a press conference on Monday, where he pointed fingers at the Centre and the Election Commission, accusing them of facilitating tampering of the voter list and rigging in elections.
He accused the Centre of weakening democracy and eroding the trust of people in constitutional institutions through match-fixing of votes.
“The government that shuns questions weakens democracy,” he said and called for safeguarding the integrity of elections by deploying the latest technology.
"Voter lists should be linked with Aadhaar, and a biometric system should be introduced at the polling booths. It should not be optional, and everyone should be added. These devices are not very expensive, and technology can help rectify irregularities," he said.
The SP supremo, raising concerns over duplicate voter entries and their impact on electoral outcomes, said that on multiple occasions, the same names appear in the electoral rolls again and accused the BJP of orchestrating these discrepancies for electoral gains.
Akhilesh alleged that over 2,000 entries under the name "Sunita, wife of Rajesh" have been found across the state.
He emphasised that it is the Election Commission's responsibility to ensure that no eligible voter is left out and that no ineligible names are included, and argued that creating duplicate voter IDs would not be easy, but could be controlled to a large extent if the Commission harnesses technology to investigate the alleged irregularities.
Akhilesh’s fresh attack on the poll panel and Centre came while inducting party leaders from other parties who jumped ship to join SP. The leaders who joined the SP in the presence of the party chief included former BJP MLAs Sinod Shakya and Kushagra Sagar, former IAS officer Ram Bahadur Pasi, BJP leader Chandra Kumar Mishra, and Dara Singh Prajapati (previously associated with the BSP).
Akhilesh stated that the SP has experience of coalition politics and will work alongside its allies to oust the BJP from power. He urged party workers to strengthen the organisation at the booth level. He also commented that many BJP MLAs are also interested in switching allegiance.
Source: IANS
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