In the by -election in Milkipur assembly seat of Uttar Pradesh, more than 65 percent of the total 3.70 lakh voters exercised their franchise, which is more than the voting recorded in the 2022 assembly elections. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav accused the officials of ‘fake voting’ and rigging. However, senior police officials rejected the charge and said that polling at all polling stations is going on peacefully.
According to the Election Commission, by the completion of polling, 65.35 percent of the votes were cast. The final polling percentage may increase after data is collected from all 414 polling stations. Voting is more than the 2022 assembly elections, when the voting percentage was 60.23.
Akhilesh Yadav accused of fake voting
The Milkipur by -election has become a fight for prestige between the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party as this seat is a part of the politically important Ayodhya district. The SP chief alleged that the presiding officers are ‘meeting the target of fake voting’ in the constituency ‘. He appealed to the Election Commission and the Supreme Court to take cognizance of ‘enemies of democracy’.
He posted an audio clip of an alleged sting on the social media platform X and said, “This is a sting operation of the truth of the presiding officers who are meeting the goal of fake voting for the ruling party.” Akhilesh alleged that the police is investigating their identity cards to ‘create fear’ among the voters.
SSP rejected allegations
However, Ayodhya Senior Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar dismissed the allegations outright. The SSP stressed that the law enforcement officers are not verifying the identity documents of the voters. Talking to reporters, Samajwadi Party leader and Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad alleged that the BJP wants to win the election by pressurizing the officials to influence the voting.