Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 22 : Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Friday rejected Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's allegation of "voter manipulation" in the byelections in the state. Maurya said that the SP chief is raising the allegation due to fear of loss in the election.
"If Akhilesh Yadav will remember the bye-elections held during his regime then he will realise that the bye-polls have been held more peacefully under the Yogi Adityanath regime. During his regime, if the conduct of the election had been 10 per cent as good as during Yogi Adityanath's regime, he could say something. It is his habit that when he sees defeat, he prepares script before the results," Maurya told ANI.
Maurya also slammed the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that like the US President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Modi also appears to be suffering from memory loss.
"Rahul Gandhi has been making disparaging remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of the top leaders of the world. The nation is hearing this. We did not have a Leader of Opposition like him before," Maurya said.
Rahul Gandhi made this controversial remark while addressing a poll rally in Maharashtra's Amravati on November 16.
Earlier in the day, Akhilesh Yadav claimed that there was voter manipulation through police and administrative pressure during the elections.
"In a democracy if police cast a vote, and if pressure is built through administerial officials then what will the public do? This a serious violation of the 'one man, one vote right' of BR Ambedkar. They want to snatch this right because they want to snatch all the other rights while in power as well," Akhilesh Yadav told ANI.
This comes after Samajwadi Party chief accused the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kakrouli police station of threatening voters in Meerapur.
On Wednesday, the Samajwadi Party chief demanded the Election Commission (EC) suspend the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kakrouli police station, located in Uttar Pradesh's Meerapur and accused him of threatening voters with force and revolver and stopping them from casting their vote.
"The Election Commission should immediately suspend SHO of Kakrouli police station area of Meerapur because he is stopping voters from casting their votes by threatening them with a revolver," the SP chief said sharing a video on X.
The District Magistrate Muzaffarnagar in a post on X stated that a clash broke out during the Meerapur Assembly by-election when a mob pelted stones at the police in the Kakarouli area.
The voting was held on Wednesday in the constituencies of Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur, and Kundarki.
The by-elections in Uttar Pradesh are significant for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which suffered a major setback in the state, winning only 36 out of 80 seats in the last elections.
The results will be announced on November 23.