"Samajwadi's Caught Them Red-Handed," Akhilesh Yadav Targets ECI During INDIA Bloc Protest

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of irregularities in electoral rolls and challenged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to respond to allegations of fraudulent voter-deletion applications in Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav made the allegations as INDIA bloc MPs marched from Parliament's Makar Dwar towards the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi, demanding Kumar's resignation over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The march was stopped by security personnel, after which several Opposition leaders staged a dharna.

"The people of the BJP are terrified, which is why barricades have been put up everywhere," Yadav said during the protest.

Akhilesh Questions Form-7 Applications

Yadav alleged that voter-deletion applications had been submitted using forged signatures and questioned documents filed in the names of individuals in Uttar Pradesh.

"If the BJP is so impartial, let Gyanesh Kumar come here and explain whose signatures were forged in the name of Nandlal Nishad. Who fabricated 100 forms in the name of Dashrath? The CEC must come here and answer. We caught them... the Samajwadis caught them red-handed," he alleged.

He also claimed that electoral rules limit the number of Form 7 applications seeking deletion of voters, but alleged that more than 100 applications had been fraudulently submitted.

Yadav further accused the poll panel of failing to adequately address similar complaints during previous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. His allegations have not been independently established.

During the protest, Yadav separately alleged that fake signatures had been used in Form 7 applications concerning voters in Sultanpur.

INDIA Bloc Demands CEC's Resignation

The INDIA bloc's march was part of its wider "Save Democracy" campaign against the Election Commission and the SIR exercise. Opposition parties have alleged irregularities in voter-list revisions and demanded greater transparency from the poll panel, along with Kumar's resignation.

The ECI has rejected allegations that the SIR process is politically motivated and has maintained that its decisions are taken according to the law. The Supreme Court is separately hearing petitions concerning the voter-roll revision and related changes to electoral forms.

The Tuesday protest came amid heavy security and barricading in central Delhi. Besides Yadav, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O'Brien and other INDIA bloc MPs took part in the march. Several leaders were later detained after the protesters were stopped from proceeding towards the poll panel's headquarters.

(With ANI Inputs)