UP CEO Apologises Over ‘Ram Hit Yadav’ Voter List Error

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer’s (CEO) office has apologised for the tone and language of a social media post defending the handling of voter-list errors after its response to allegations of caste bias drew criticism. The apology came a day after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh questioned why a voter’s name, ‘Ramhit Yadav’, had appeared as ‘Ram ne Yadav ko Maara’ in an electoral record.

The controversy has raised questions about how errors in electoral rolls escaped correction despite the availability of an editing facility. The CEO, Navdeep Rinwa, attributed the mistranslation to software that translated words instead of converting names phonetically into Hindi. The apology addressed the tone of the response; it did not establish whether the errors reflected deliberate bias.

CEO’s remarks draw criticism

Singh questioned the entry and asked whether the computer system was casteist or whether it was being used to advance a political agenda.

Rinwa responded by citing another erroneous entry, ‘Ram ne Sharma ko Maara’, from the voter list prepared for the recent Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections. “Computers/software are not casteist,” he said.

In a sarcastic remark, Rinwa added, “Thank God that Ram did not hit a minority,” suggesting that the error could otherwise have prompted allegations of communal bias.

The CEO’s office later apologised for the tone and language of the post, saying that the wording was inappropriate for an official account and that future communication would remain civil and formal. The Election Commission also directed the office to avoid unnecessary comments and restrict its statements to facts.

How the errors occurred

The CEO’s office said the software was designed to transliterate names entered in English into Hindi, but in some cases translated the words instead. When ‘Ramhit Yadav’ was entered as separate words, the system reportedly interpreted them as a sentence and generated ‘Ram ne Yadav ko Maara’, which translates to ‘Ram hit Yadav’.

Another discrepancy involved voter Ravi Sharma, whose father’s name was recorded as ‘Ram ne Sharma ko Maara’. In a separate case, ‘B.Com’ appeared in a field intended for a father’s name.

Reports cited 158 unusual entries among 14,81,310 records. Online registration was introduced for the first time for the electoral rolls covering 11 Legislative Council constituencies — five graduates’ and six teachers’ constituencies.

The CEO’s office acknowledged that an editing facility was available to correct entries, but some errors remained in the final records. While the mistranslated names were attributed to the software, the ‘B.Com’ entry was described as a possible case of human error or negligence.

Officials asked to explain errors

The CEO’s office said explanations had been sought from the officials concerned and that the reasons behind the errors were being examined.

In a separate post, the office also alleged that forged voter slips were circulating on social media and warned that those responsible could face legal action. It urged the public and media organisations to verify electoral information with the relevant authorities before sharing it.

The investigation will need to establish why the errors escaped scrutiny and whether responsibility rests with the software process, the officials checking the entries, or both.