10 voters listed as 'Vikas Yadav' in UP's Azamgarh, nine officials face action

Nine election officials and staff face action after an inquiry into a Samajwadi Party complaint found that 10 voters had been incorrectly listed as “Vikas Yadav” in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district.The party had presented Yadav at a press conference, alleging that he had been registered multiple times in the same Assembly constituency. The Election Commission then sought a report from the district election officer.The inquiry found that the 11 entries examined belonged to different people. Only one was named Vikas Yadav. The other 10 had been listed under the wrong name, and some of their other details also required correction.A computer assistant and five booth-level officers, who help maintain voter lists, were found responsible for the errors and immediately removed from voter-list duties. Legal action has also been ordered under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act. The then electoral registration officer and two assistant electoral registration officers face departmental proceedings for alleged negligence and inadequate supervision.Applications have been submitted to correct the inaccurate entries. The district election officer has also been directed to check voter lists in Azamgarh’s other Assembly constituencies and submit a report within a week. The action comes a day after Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa ordered a statewide probe following the discovery of more than 10,000 unauthorised changes to voter details in Pilibhit. PILIBHIT FINDINGS TRIGGER STATEWIDE PROBEIn a memorandum submitted on October 19, the Samajwadi Party alleged that a voter’s name and father’s name had been changed without the required application. Rinwa sought an immediate inquiry from the Pilibhit District Magistrate.Officials confirmed the complaint and found similar irregularities in two other cases. A wider examination of the constituency’s voter list uncovered more than 10,000 changes made without the required Form 8 applications or supporting documents.Rinwa said the affected voters had neither applied for corrections nor submitted documents supporting the changes.“What happened in Pilibhit was not a mistake; it was a criminal act. That is why a case has been registered,” he said.Legal action was ordered against officials and computer operators responsible for entering and approving the changes. The officers concerned also face departmental proceedings.The findings come ahead of Uttar Pradesh’s voter-list revision. Draft rolls are scheduled to be published on November 12, giving voters a month to seek inclusion or corrections. The final rolls are due on January 4.- Ends