UP polls: BJP plots to add outsiders to state rolls, alleges Akhilesh

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday accused the BJP of plotting to bring people from other states into Uttar Pradesh and register them as voters, following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's claim that 1.27 crore Hindu voters were missing from the electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), according to The Wire

Yadav alleged that Adityanath's figures were part of a calculated attempt to create fear and build a narrative favouring the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections. He also questioned how the chief minister obtained the figures, which the office of the state's Chief Electoral Officer has not explained.

The allegations came as the BJP held a state-level workshop in Lucknow under its Matdata Jodo Abhiyan, instructing party workers to launch an intensive month-long voter enrolment campaign from November 19. The drive aims to add eligible voters and identify names that should be removed.

Yadav claimed the BJP was preparing to bring people from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand to register them in Uttar Pradesh. He also alleged that the party could create discrepancies between voter lists available inside and outside polling stations on election day.

The SP submitted a memorandum to Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa on November 12, seeking an explanation from Adityanath and asking the Election Commission to examine the basis of his claim.

BJP leaders, meanwhile, said their campaign would focus on ensuring that eligible citizens were not excluded. Workers have been directed to reach out particularly to women, first-time voters and migrant labourers, while helping people with enrolment, deletion and correction procedures.

The Election Commission is scheduled to publish the integrated draft electoral roll on November 17. Claims and objections can be filed until December 16, with the final list due on January 4, 2027.