DMs refute SP’s charge, Akhilesh says their action has exposed EC | Lucknow News

Lucknow: A day after three district magistrates (DMs) rebutted Samajwadi Party‘s claims of “illegal deletion of names” from electoral rolls in 2022 assembly polls, party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said the move has exposed the Election Commission which had till now denied having received the complaints from his party.DMs of Kasganj, Jaunpur and Barabanki on Tuesday night had junked SP’s allegations that names of voters were deleted illegally from electoral rolls in their districts.“We had filed 18,000 affidavits regarding names which were illegally deleted from the electoral rolls in the 2022 UP elections, but the EC had outrightly denied having received the complaints. The sudden activism of the three DMs in responding to our complaints has at least exposed the EC,” he said.“For now, the issue is between the EC and the DM. It is for them to decide who is speaking the truth,” the SP chief said. He questioned the “sudden activism” of three DMs and reiterated his demand for a probe into what he described as a “nexus” between the BJP govt, poll panel and the local administration. “Why have the DMs suddenly responded after so many years?” Akhilesh said. He said the three have formed an alliance and “lies” was the glue that was holding them together. He added that “superficial responses” by the officials amounted to an admission of their involvement, which should also be investigated. The DMs should provide copies of death certificates of the voters who have died.Kasganj DM Pranay Singh referred to the complaint regarding eight names having been deleted in Amapur constituency. He said seven names were removed as they appeared twice in the voter list and the name of one voter was removed after his wife filled Form 7 for deletion of name.Jaunpur DM Dinesh Chandra said the complaint regarding the removal of five names was received from the Jaunpur assembly seat. Five of them had died before 2022 and this was confirmed by their family members and the corporator concerned. He dismissed the complaint as “baseless and misleading”. Barabanki DM Shashank Tripathi said the complaint of two names having been deleted was wrong and that the names were present in the list. Akhilesh condemns attack on Delhi CM Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday condemned the attack on Delhi CM Rekha Gupta earlier in the day. The CM was addressing grievances of the people during a Jansunvai at her residence when she was slapped by a man. “It is sad that a public representative who is a chief minister and is a woman had been targeted like this,” Akhilesh said talking to the media.