UP Nikay Chunav: SP Claims Change In Election Manual, Accuses BJP Of 'Conspiracy'

The Samajwadi Party accused the BJP of hatching a "conspiracy" to "influence" the results of the local body elections and change the people's mandate.

SP claimed that the BJP government intimidated voters, mistreated SP workers, and refused to allow voters to leave their homes in order to slow down the voting process. ( Image Source :Twitter/@samajwadiparty )

The Samajwadi Party (SP) claimed on Friday (May 12), a day before the counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh's urban local body elections, that the election manual was recently amended, deleting portions related to the declaration of votes received by candidates after each round of counting. The party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of plotting a "conspiracy" to "influence" the results of the local body elections and change the mandate of the people.

According to Manoj Pandey, the SP's chief whip in the Legislative Assembly, the election manual for local body polls includes a provision for writing on a blackboard the details of valid votes obtained by a candidate, invalid votes, and the total votes polled after each round of counting.

Furthermore, he stated that they must immediately declare these details, feed the data online, and announce the same via the public address system. There is a provision for announcing the results every two hours, he added. 

However, these provisions were "missing" from the manual after an amendment was issued on April 15, 2023, "which is not appropriate and raises doubts," he said. He also claimed that the BJP government intimidated voters, misbehaved with SP workers, and refused to allow voters to leave their homes in order to slow down the voting process.

He also claimed that the BJP was plotting to destroy the democratic system by misusing the administration.

According to SP state unit president Naresh Uttam Patel, the voters' mood was against the BJP government throughout the campaign period. "A number of BJP ministers and party leaders engaged in deceptive (poll) campaigns ('bhraamak prachaar'). The BJP is trying to show that in the urban local bodies' elections, people are not liking the Samajwadi Party. The BJP has cheated the people," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

In a party statement, he said: "After lagging behind in the first phase, a strategy was made (by the ruling party) to influence the voting process by reducing the polling percentage itself".