UP CEO counters Cong, cites cases of different results in 2 consecutive polls on same seat

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Amid Congress allegation of manipulation behind BJP’s "baffling" victory in Kundarki Assembly seat in the 2024 by-poll, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Uttar Pradesh, on Friday said drastically different results on same seat in two consecutive elections is not new.

In a post on X, the CEO refrained from commenting on the sub-judice matter related to Kundarki bye-poll but cited examples of surprise results in two elections in the same constituency held a few months apart.

The CEO said, “There are multiple instances in India where the results of two consecutive elections held in the same constituency at an interval of few months have yielded vastly different results (e.g in 114-Malegaon Central AC of Maharashtra, the INC candidate received only 3.13 per cent of the votes polled in Assembly Elections of Maharashtra held in November 2024 whereas in the same Assembly Segment, the INC candidate secured unbelievably high 96.7 per cent of votes polled in Lok Sabha elections held just five months earlier.)”

Rebutting allegations made in an article about the targeting of UP electors of a particular religion, the CEO wrote: “In so far as the Electoral Roll is concerned, neither religion nor caste is ever recorded for any elector. The impression given by the article… that its analysis and inference is based on the data released by the ECI is wrong in the sense that no analysis of any kind on the basis of religion or caste can be made by the data released by the ECI.”

“It is also clarified that no complaint has been received for wrongful deletion/addition of any elector or wrongful rejection of Form-6 on the basis of his/her religion in 29-Kundarki Assembly Constituency,” the CEO said.

Earlier, Congress leader Pawan Khera raised doubts over the BJP’s sweep of the Kundarki Assembly seat in the 2024 bye-poll - a constituency long considered a SP bastion, hinting at alleged manipulation.

In a post on social media platform X, Khera wrote: "BJP’s sweep of the Kundarki assembly seat in the 2024 bye-poll… baffled many. But the mystery is over: that 1.4 lakh margin wasn’t a miracle, it was Vote Chori."

He also tagged an article alleging that alleged that Muslim voters in the constituency were targeted, with deletions and suppression in an election where the BJP pulled off an unprecedented victory.

The CEO refused to comment on the Kundarki Assembly seat by-poll, saying: “An Election Petition has been filed in Allahabad High Court by Mr Mohammad Rizwan, the candidate of Samajwadi Party in the by-election held in November 2024 in 29-Kundarki Assembly Constituency. The matter is already sub-judice and hence no comments are being made regarding the said by-election.”

--IANS

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