Kolkata, May 7 (IANS) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday met Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee at her residence in Kalighat and extended his moral support to her following her party’s electoral setback in the West Bengal Assembly elections.

During the meeting, Yadav told her, “Didi, you have not lost”, and alleged electoral fraud by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Election Commission of India in West Bengal.

The meeting was also attended by Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Abhishek Banerjee, who welcomed Yadav to Mamata Banerjee’s house.

Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Yadav said that Opposition leaders must collectively stand against alleged electoral fraud.

“I have just met Didi (Mamata Banerjee). Abhishek was also with me. Today, all of us have to stand up to election fraud. When the election happened honestly, she won, but this time, because of the multi-layered ‘mafiagiri’ that happened in the election, no one could have imagined that this kind of fraud could be done by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Election Commission, their associates, the spies and the underground people,” he said.

Yadav further compared Bengal’s situation with the previous Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He said that what the Bharatiya Janata Party had done in Uttar Pradesh amounted to a betrayal, adding that it was a trial for them, and they learned from it and influenced the entire process in other states.

He also claimed that there was irregular deployment of forces and administrative interference during the polls.

“Central forces, the Election Commission, and transfer postings – I have observed the Uttar Pradesh elections very closely. We complained about numerous officials, yet neither the Director General of Police, the Chief Secretary, nor any district officials were removed. However, during the Bengal elections, they took over the entire structure. They were instructed to defeat them… Many people have been granted 15 days of leave; the Central Force has never been given such an extended leave before,” Yadav said.

The Samajwadi Party chief further said that the effort would be to ensure that everyone works together, because democracy needs to be protected.

He alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party wants to destroy democracy and take away people’s voting rights, adding that this issue is not limited to West Bengal but has also happened in Uttar Pradesh, where, he claimed, attempts are being made to snatch away the right to vote of ordinary people, especially those from the PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) communities.

Yadav added that when voting rights are taken away, other rights can also be denied.

He said that data is available showing how the manipulation of voting rights has led to unexpected electoral outcomes and questioned what software was used, who operated it, and what caused the alleged inconsistencies.

He added that the issue had even been raised in Parliament and should be investigated thoroughly by the Election Commission.

–IANS

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