Uttar Pradesh parties mobilize for 2027 polls amid voter roll revision concerns

LUCKNOW — Major political parties in Uttar Pradesh, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Samajwadi Party (SP), and Congress, have shifted into full election gear for the 2027 assembly polls, holding key organizational reviews in Lucknow on Friday.

The immediate priority for all parties is navigating the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the upcoming Special Summary Revision (SSR) of electoral rolls starting November 17, with a primary focus on reinstating voters whose names were dropped, preventing alleged list manipulation, and safeguarding traditional vote bases.

During a workshop at the Indira Gandhi प्रतिष्ठान, BJP leaders discussed data indicating that approximately 1.27 million Hindu voters’ names have disappeared from state rolls following the SIR process. Chief Minister Yogi आदित्यनाथ stated that this trend is unfavorable for the party, noting that missing entries include at least 55,000 loyal beneficiary voters and about 6.5 million citizens present on panchayat rolls but omitted from assembly rolls, alongside a 1.65 percent increase in Muslim voters.

To counter this, BJP state president Pankaj चौधरी announced a month-long “Matdata Jodo Abhiyan” from November 17 to December 16. The campaign aims to add 50 new voters across each of the state’s 173,730 polling booths, targeting roughly 8.686 million new registrations. BJP spokesperson Dinesh प्रताप सिंह said the drive will target unlisted citizens, first-time young voters, and eligible residents through structured booth-level meetings spanning from November 16 to 24.

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party convened with representatives from 80 reserved assembly seats to formulate a counter-strategy. SP President अखिलेश यादव said the party plans to file constituency-wise formal complaints regarding 2.5 million alleged fake voters added during the SIR process across those reserved segments.

SP spokesperson Abbas Haider alleged that 13,000 voter entries were altered in Pilibhit through a centralized system controlled directly from New Delhi, adding that the party’s primary focus during the upcoming SSR period is to prevent list manipulation. यादव also instructed party workers to maintain strict discipline and avoid inflammatory religious remarks that could benefit political opponents.

In parallel, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee launched its “Sangathan Samvad” and “Mission 2027” initiatives, engaging district and city heads from 134 organizational units. AICC Secretary Abhishek Dutt addressed internal factionalism and urged leaders to enhance coordination, strengthen social media outreach, and build grassroots committees tailored to caste equations.

Ali Asif Juma Rizvi, head of the Congress legal department, emphasized the necessity of auditing booth-level voter rolls, particularly in areas concentrated with traditional Muslim and Scheduled Caste supporters.