LUCKNOW: An electoral-roll controversy in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Sadar Assembly constituency has taken a serious turn, with an FIR registered against officials after thousands of voter entries were found to have been altered.
The action followed scrutiny of 13,779 Form-8 applications, of which 10,470 entries were found to contain irregularities, according to the state election authorities. Two Electoral Registration Officers and a computer operator have faced action over the discrepancies.
The controversy erupted after opposition parties alleged that voter names were changed while their EPIC and serial numbers remained unchanged. Congress claimed the alterations disproportionately affected Muslim voters, citing instances where Muslim names were replaced with different names, and alleged that the changes could facilitate deletion or exclusion of genuine voters.
The Election Commission has ordered corrective action and wider verification of electoral rolls, while the allegations are being examined.