Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of undermining democracy through large-scale electoral malpractice.
In a post on social media, Yadav alleged that the BJP was engaged in “both the denial of rights and the manipulation of votes” in order to destroy the democratic process. “We will not allow the conspiracy being hatched by the BJP to destroy democracy to succeed,” he wrote, urging citizens to recognise what he described as the ruling party’s modus operandi.
Calling the BJP “a university of corruption” and “a world university of electoral corruption,” Yadav accused it of manipulating voter lists in collusion with certain officials. According to him, this included adding names of fake voters who favour the BJP and deleting names of those who support the Opposition.
He further claimed that the BJP stations selected individuals at polling booths to cast bogus votes, intimidates voters with firearms to prevent them from voting, enables multiple voting by its supporters, creates fake IDs for fraudulent ballots, and even replaces electronic voting machines (EVMs) under the cover of security forces.
Yadav also alleged that, in some cases, votes cast against the BJP are deliberately rejected under CCTV surveillance and that district magistrates have been pressured to alter victory certificates. “Today’s voters say, no to the BJP,” he said.
While the SP chief did not link his allegations to any particular election, his comments come at a time when Congress leaders have also raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the electoral process.
Yadav has previously raised similar allegations. During the Milkipur assembly by-election in Uttar Pradesh earlier this year, he claimed that the BJP resorted to vote manipulation to secure its win.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has rejected Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s latest allegations of large-scale electoral malpractice, calling them baseless and politically motivated.
Senior BJP leader Vijay Nahadur Pathak said Yadav’s remarks were part of a pattern of opposition parties questioning the credibility of the Election Commission whenever they face electoral setbacks. “These are excuses to cover up repeated defeats. The Election Commission conducts free and fair polls under the scrutiny of multiple observers, security agencies, and political party agents,” Pathak told this reporter.
Responding to earlier claims made by Yadav during the Milkipur assembly by-election, the BJP had said that such accusations were “desperate attempts to discredit the mandate of the people.” The party has also argued that opposition parties often deploy similar rhetoric ahead of elections to mobilise their base.
“The allegations of fake voters, bogus voting, and manipulation of voter lists are false. The voter lists are prepared by the Election Commission, not the BJP, and objections can be raised during the verification process. If the SP has evidence, it should present it before the Commission instead of making wild statements,” the BJP leader added.
