Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Electoral Officer is pushing back against claims of foul play in the BJP’s stunning win in the Kundarki Assembly by-poll last year. Congress leaders have cried manipulation after the BJP flipped a seat long held by rivals, but the top elections official says big swings like this happen more often than you might think.
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), the CEO avoided diving into the ongoing legal battle over the Kundarki results. Instead, they pointed to real examples of wild shifts in voter turnout and wins in the same area just months apart. Take Maharashtra’s Malegaon Central constituency, for instance: In the November 2024 state assembly elections, the Indian National Congress candidate grabbed just 3.13% of the votes. But only five months earlier, in the Lok Sabha polls, the same party’s candidate in that segment racked up an incredible 96.7%. “These kinds of surprises aren’t new in Indian elections,” the CEO noted.
The response comes amid accusations from Congress that Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh faced targeted deletions from voter lists or other suppression tactics during the 2024 Kundarki by-poll. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera called the BJP’s 1.4 lakh-vote margin a case of “Vote Chori” – straight-up vote theft – and shared an article highlighting alleged biases against voters of a specific religion.
But the CEO shut that down quickly. They explained that India’s electoral rolls never track religion or caste for any voter. “Any so-called analysis based on faith or community using Election Commission of India data is just plain wrong – we don’t release info that lets you do that,” the post read. Plus, no complaints have rolled in about wrongful voter deletions, additions, or rejected applications tied to religion in the Kundarki seat.
For now, the CEO is staying silent on the specifics. They pointed out that Samajwadi Party candidate Mohammad Rizwan has filed an election petition in the Allahabad High Court over the November 2024 by-poll. With the case under judicial review, officials won’t comment further on the Uttar Pradesh election drama.
Stay informed on all the latest news, real-time breaking news updates, and follow all the important headlines in world News on Latest NewsX. Follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter(X), Gettr and subscribe our Youtube Channel.
