Akhilesh Yadav claims voters were detained, booth agents removed
Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that voters from Uttar Pradesh's Kundarki constituency were detained by police on their way to Lucknow. According to him, they were on their way to complain against alleged "electoral malpractices" in the recent bypolls. Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ramveer Thakur won the Kundarki seat, which is a traditional SP bastion, defeating 11 Muslim candidates by a huge margin of over 1.4 lakh votes.
Yadav accuses BJP of electoral fraud in bypolls
Yadav accused the ruling BJP of engineering electoral fraud in these bypolls. "I saw the video of our Samajwadi Party candidate from Kundarki, when he went out to cast his vote, he got the information that his booth agents were removed, the way the police administration behaved, their intention was that no Samajwadi Party agent should remain at the booth," he said.
Yadav appeals for intervention, alleges voter suppression
"People who were stopped from casting their votes in Kundarki or whose votes were cast by someone else were coming to Lucknow to tell their plight because there was no hearing at the local level," he added. The SP leader appealed to various authorities, including the president and the Election Commission, to intervene and ensure justice. He urged them to prevent any "injustice or atrocities" against those raising their voices for voting rights.
'Wherever SP people wanted to cast votes, they were stopped'
Election Commission responds to allegations, suspends police personnel
On election day, November 20, SP's Kundarki candidate, Mohammad Rizwan, had demanded a recount, citing major irregularities. Rizwan accused local officials of deliberate voter suppression against the minority community, alleging bias on the part of the administration and police. In light of the allegations, the Election Commission of India asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure fair bypolls and suspended at least seven police personnel for breaching voter guidelines.
