Akhilesh questions EC’s neutrality ahead of INDIA bloc protest

• SP chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned the Election Commission’s impartiality, alleging it was not functioning in line with the Constitution

• Yadav accused the poll panel of favouring the BJP and raised concerns over alleged booth capturing and the SIR electoral-roll revision

• His remarks came ahead of the INDIA bloc MPs’ march to the EC headquarters to protest the SIR exercise and demand accountability

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday questioned the Election Commission’s impartiality, saying it was failing to function in accordance with the Constitution, ahead of an INDIA bloc protest against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Speaking to reporters before the demonstration, Yadav said concerns about the poll panel’s conduct had been raised repeatedly. He claimed its approach to citizenship and voting rights favoured supporters of the ruling BJP.

“The Election Commission wants to believe that only those who are members of the Bharatiya Janata Party are Indian citizens,” he said, adding that the commission appeared to regard BJP membership as a condition for voting.

Yadav also claimed that the BJP’s electoral strength depended on financial resources and the misuse of security forces. He cited alleged booth capturing in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, naming Kundarki, Ambedkar Nagar and Ayodhya, while questioning whether the commission had acted on complaints.

His remarks broadened into an attack on what he described as the close relationship between the BJP and the poll panel. In a sarcastic reference to the party’s office in Delhi, he suggested that the BJP could have operated from a floor of the Election Commission building instead.

Yadav also criticised the proposal for simultaneous elections under “One Nation, One Election”. He claimed the BJP wanted to concentrate electoral processes into a single exercise to avoid scrutiny and remain in power for five years without further investigation.

His comments came as INDIA bloc MPs prepared to march from Parliament to the Election Commission headquarters over alleged “vote theft” associated with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The protest was announced following a meeting of 19 opposition parties on 30 September and forms part of a wider opposition campaign against Kumar and the conduct of the revision exercise.

With IANS inputs