Lucknow, Oct 19 (IANS) Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav, on Monday termed the alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as major discrepancies, questioning the expenditure incurred on the exercise and claiming that several people had lost their lives during the process. Speaking to reporters, Akhilesh Yadav said the Election Commission's acknowledgement of the alleged irregularities was a significant achievement for the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) alliance.“You are all experienced and aware journalists. Despite the discussions and claims made regarding the SIR, instances of one person's name appearing on 10 voter ID cards, five cards being issued to one person, and cards being distributed across four polling booths for a single person raise serious concerns."What could be worse than this, considering that crores of rupees were spent on the SIR exercise and several people lost their lives during the process? The Election Commission is now acknowledging these issues, describing them as 'minor errors'. These are not minor errors; they are major irregularities,” Akhilesh Yadav said.

Akhilesh Yadav further said, “It is our victory that the Election Commission is accepting that there are irregularities and that they will be corrected. This is the greatest achievement of the PDA.”Reacting to the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, the Samajwadi Party chief questioned the circumstances behind the decision and asked whether action would be taken against the officials concerned.“If action is taken against the officials, what will happen in Delhi? Why did you have to change the protest venue at Jantar Mantar? You had to move away from Jantar Mantar. But you have admitted it, haven't you? The entire country knows what happens when the BJP starts to lose,” he said.Akhilesh Yadav also spoke about the party's manifesto for the upcoming elections, saying that discussions on the document would take place at a meeting scheduled for November 26, that is celebrated in India as Constitution Day.“We will not discuss the manifesto right now. We will discuss it when we meet on November 26, when we will sit together and talk about it in detail. We will explain how the Samajwadi Party plans to work in every sector ahead of the upcoming elections and decide the direction and priorities for the future,” he said.

/IANS