Lucknow

Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday renewed his demand for conducting elections in India through ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), citing recent voting in the United Kingdom as an example.

Addressing reporters at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow, the SP chief said several developed nations, including the UK, continue to use ballot papers in elections.

Referring to the UK elections, Yadav said voting there was conducted through secret ballots and questioned whether India was ahead of countries such as the UK, the United States, Japan, and Germany, where traditional voting methods are still followed in many instances.

He said the demand for ballot paper voting has long been associated with socialist politics in India. At the same time, he asserted that despite his criticism of EVMs, the opposition would still defeat the BJP through the existing system and remove it from power.

Yadav alleged that during the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, voters’ names were deliberately removed from electoral rolls, claiming many people discovered at polling booths that their names had either disappeared or been shifted elsewhere.

According to him, the Samajwadi Party submitted affidavits and details of deleted voters to the Election Commission of India, but no action was taken against officials involved.

He further alleged irregularities in voter verification processes and claimed there were duplicate and invalid entries in electoral rolls. Yadav also accused the BJP of misusing Form 7 applications to allegedly cancel the votes of opposition supporters.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the opposition would need to fight what he described as a “multi-layered election mafia” in the run-up to the 2027 state assembly polls. He called for democratic forces to unite to protect constitutional institutions and democratic values.

Responding to speculation about tensions within the SP-Congress alliance, Yadav dismissed suggestions of a split and instead attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of promoting divisive politics.

He also criticised the BJP over campaign spending, alleging the ruling party had unprecedented financial resources during elections.

On law and order in Uttar Pradesh, Yadav claimed crimes against women remained among the highest in the country and cited NCRB data to question the BJP government's “zero tolerance” claims on crime.

The SP leader additionally accused the state government of discrimination against Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and women.

READ MORE: Why Congress MLA Motab Shaikh thinks he is the luckiest man on earth

Outlining some promises ahead of future elections, Yadav said the Samajwadi Party would provide free bus travel for girls, free education from kindergarten to postgraduate level, free healthcare for the poor, and cancer treatment assistance for economically weaker sections if voted to power.