Akhilesh seeks Aadhaar-linked voter lists, biometric checks at polling booths

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday demanded that voter lists be linked with Aadhaar and biometric verification facilities introduced at polling booths, alleging widespread irregularities in Uttar Pradesh’s electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav said the Election Commission should use technology, including fingerprint scanners, to prevent duplicate registrations and ensure the accuracy of voter lists.

He alleged that the BJP was using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls for “vote fixing”, warning that such practices would undermine democracy and public confidence in constitutional institutions.

“If this (linking Aadhaar) is not done, it raises questions about the intentions of the Election Commission and the BJP,” he said, alleging that they did not want voters to be properly identified.

Yadav cited alleged discrepancies in Pilibhit and the Sarojini Nagar Assembly constituency in Lucknow. He referred to a case involving Nandlal Nishad in Pilibhit and claimed that more than 100 forms had been filled in the name of a person identified as Dashrath in Sarojini Nagar. He also cited the case of a person named Vikas whose name allegedly appeared at multiple polling booths.

The SP chief claimed that a voter identified as Sunita, wife of Rajesh and aged 42, had 420 entries in the records examined by his party. Searches using the same names across Uttar Pradesh allegedly returned 2,341 entries, he said.

Similarly, Yadav claimed that 315 entries were found for a voter identified as Rajkumari, wife of Rajkumar, while searches across different locations and age groups yielded 1,627 entries.

He questioned how such discrepancies could occur and called on the Election Commission to ensure that no eligible voter was excluded and no individual was registered multiple times.

Yadav said the poll body had begun taking action after opposition parties raised concerns but needed to do more to correct electoral rolls.

He also alleged that the BJP was preparing for large-scale electoral malpractice and suggested that the delay in holding panchayat elections was linked to this. He further alleged that fake Aadhaar cards were being used to cast votes, but did not provide details to substantiate the claim.

Yadav said the Samajwadi Party would continue examining electoral rolls and bringing alleged discrepancies to the Election Commission’s attention.