"After SIR, there has been an increase of 1.65 per cent of Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh," says Yogi ::::: If Yogi's prediction of winning 80 per cent of seats holds, NDA may secure 320 seats

In the run up to the high-stakes Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has challenged Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav to demand 'total revoke' of SIR in the state. 

In an interview to a TV channel, he said Yadav will not do so because following SIR exercise there has been an increase of 1.65 per cent of Muslim voters. In contrast, 1.27 crore Hindu voters names have been deleted. Therefore, he said, a memorandum has been submitted to the Election Commission to take necessary corrective measures. "We also want to know why these things could happen",  he said. 

"I am talking about 1.27 crore Hindu voters whose names are there in the roll for panchayat polls; but the names have been deleted in the EC roll".  

"Yeh kaisey hue haen, kaun iskey peechhey tha (How did all these happen; and who was behind this)," Yogi wondered. He further explained that there are 55 lakh Hindu voters whose names were there in the roll and they got all the benefits of state Govt's welfare measures but now their names have been deleted. 

There are about 4.5 lakh voters in the age group of 18 and 19 years and their names too have been dropped. 

Answering a question, he said the state Govt has nothing to do with the SIR exercise. "EC is an autonomous constitutional body," he said. 

"We have requested the poll panel to consider putting these names back in the electoral roll. In UP, the SIR was a necessity certainly," the chief minister said adding, the names of those who expired should be deleted. There were 46 lakh names who had died during the period. 

"But others should be there .... You are depriving Hindus and especially the infiltrators from Bangladesh and Pakistan are being allowed.... These people (opposition) are doing just the opposite. They are saying Hindu names should be deleted and Bangladeshis and Pakistanis should be there," Yogi said.  

"I am confident the deleted names (of Hindus) will be restored again," he said.      

Yogi expressed confidence that the BJP-led NDA would secure a decisive mandate in the state, predicting that the ruling coalition would win "80 per cent of the votes as well as seats".

The remaining 20 per cent would go to the Opposition, he emphasised.  "I have said multiple times that we are fighting an 80-20 battle. The BJP and its alliance partners will get 80 per cent of the votes, and the rest will go to the Opposition. The same equation will be reflected in the number of seats as well," Yogi Adityanath said.  

Uttar Pradesh has 403 Assembly seats. If Yogi's prediction of winning 80 per cent of the seats holds, the NDA should secure approximately 320 seats, leaving the remaining 80-83 seats for the Opposition.

In 2017, the alliance won 325 seats, with the BJP alone accounting for 312 seats. However, its tally declined in the 2022 Assembly elections, when the NDA secured 273 seats, including 255 won by the BJP. 

In other words, the Lotus party has set a target of 300 plus seats. 

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