"BJP manipulates the system through Election Commission": Akhilesh Yadav

Yadav's remarks came after he participated in the INDIA bloc's march towards the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi earlier in the day. The Opposition MPs were stopped by barricades from entering Nirvachan Sadan, following which several leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, staged a sit-in at the nearby Akashvani Bhavan, around 100 metres from the poll panel's office.

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the BJP, alleging that the poll panel was not functioning impartially and accusing the ruling party of defending the Commission because it "manipulates the system through them." Yadav's remarks came after he participated in the INDIA bloc's march towards the Election Commission headquarters in New Delhi earlier in the day. The Opposition MPs were stopped by barricades from entering Nirvachan Sadan, following which several leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, staged a sit-in at the nearby Akashvani Bhavan, around 100 metres from the poll panel's office.

Speaking to reporters, Yadav said, "The Election Commission ought to function impartially. Its duty is to facilitate voter registration and maintain an infrastructure that ensures the general public faces no inconvenience or hardship. It should not act at the behest of the BJP. We are agitating against the Election Commission...The sit-in protest is still ongoing." Questioning the BJP's response to the Opposition's criticism of the Election Commission, Yadav said, "The BJP should not be defending this. If we, the Opposition, speak out against the Election Commission, why does the BJP step in to defend it? The BJP steps in because it manipulates the system through them."

Yadav also alleged irregularities in the submission of Form 7 applications, claiming that SP workers and leaders had caught a person named Dashrath who had allegedly submitted more than 100 such forms. "These forms were specifically submitted to delete the votes of Samajwadi Party and PDA supporters within this very constituency. When a complaint was lodged with the Election Commission, they acknowledged the issue, yet no action was taken against any official. Similarly, in Sultanpur, BJP operatives were caught after getting Nandlal Nishad, who does not even know how to sign his name, to sign a 'Form 7' to have votes deleted. What is the Election Commission doing? At whose behest is it acting?" he said.

Form 7 is an official application form issued by the Election Commission of India to object to the proposed inclusion of a name in the electoral roll or to request the deletion of an existing name from the voter list. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that the Opposition would continue its protest inside the Akashvani Bhavan premises and asked Delhi Police to provide an alternative venue if it was "uncomfortable" with the demonstration.

"We don't have any problem with protesting here. We will continue our protests here. If they (Delhi Police) are uncomfortable with us protesting here, they can provide us with another place to protest. The Constitution allows us to lodge a protest," Gandhi said. The Opposition's protest is part of its broader "Save Democracy" campaign against the Election Commission and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The controversy comes in the backdrop of an Indian Express report claiming that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised 14 objections during the SIR exercise. The Election Commission has maintained that its decisions were unanimous. Opposition leaders have also raised questions over modifications to Form 6, which is used for the enrolment of new voters. The Supreme Court on Monday said that it had not approved any modified version of Form 6 being used for the enrolment of new voters during the SIR exercise. (ANI)