Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday levelled sharp allegations against the Election Commission (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming the two were misusing the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Yadav alleged that the saffron party is working in tandem with the poll body to exploit the SIR exercise and “cancel over 50,000 votes” in assembly seats where INDIA bloc parties won in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
Yadav made the charge during a press conference, warning that the SIR exercise was being deployed in a targeted manner in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
The allegations came as the ECI is currently conducting a nationwide SIR across 12 states and Union Territories. The final list of electors is scheduled to be published on February 7, 2026.
This exercise is being carried out in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
‘BJP and EC targeting UP and Bengal’
Akhilesh Yadav said reports from “newspapers, social media, and other sources” suggest that after its electoral loss, the BJP is “preparing on an extensive level” in both states with the support of the EC.
“After the Bihar elections, we learn from newspapers, social media, and other sources that the BJP is preparing on an extensive level in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal in collaboration with the Election Commission. After the 2024 loss, the BJP and EC are targeting UP and West Bengal,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
“The most important point is that the BJP, its government, its officials, and the Election Commission are working together to cancel over 50,000 votes in the assembly constituencies where the Samajwadi Party and the INDIA Alliance won in 2024, using the pretext of SIR,” he claimed.
Yadav said his party would stay alert and urged citizens to check their names in the electoral rolls to prevent wrongful deletions.
“This is what is happening in Uttar Pradesh, and preparations are underway in West Bengal, so we are vigilant. We appeal to people to ensure that their name is in the voter list,” he said.
BJP rejects charge
BJP leader Gaurav Vallabh countered the allegations, noting that the SIR process is being implemented even in states where no elections are scheduled. “There are no elections in Rajasthan, but the SIR process is going on there; in other states where there are no elections, SIR is also going on. These people are saying such things because the people who are being removed (from the voter list) are their vote banks and now they (Akhilesh Yadav) feel that their existence will be wiped out…,” he said, reported ANI.
Referring to the RJD’s setback in the recent Bihar Assembly election, Vallabh added, “This is the same thing that Tejashwi Yadav said 6 months before the election, as a result they came down to 25 seats and now the same thing is being said by Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav. They will be confined to even less than 25 seats.”
TMC begins parallel review in Bengal
Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has called an internal meeting on November 24, led by party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, to review SIR-related developments and strengthen oversight to ensure that no voter names are removed, reported ANI.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is also scheduled to meet members of the Matua community in Bongaon, North 24 Parganas, on November 25.
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