‘If required, protest’: Akhilesh’s call to PDA Praharis ahead of SIR deadline
In an open letter to PDA Prahari’s on Tuesday evening, Akhilesh Yadav cautioned that millions of people were on the verge of being deprived of their voting rights due to alleged shortcomings in the SIR mapping app.
As the first phase of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls nears its end in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav has asked booth level agents (BLAs), his better known as ‘PDA Praharis’, to stay prepared for protest if required while thanking them for working on the ground to prevent the alleged deletion of genuine voters. The party has also announced that all PDA Praharis will receive certificates of appreciation.
In an open letter to PDA Prahari’s on Tuesday evening, Akhilesh Yadav cautioned that millions of people were on the verge of being deprived of their voting rights due to alleged shortcomings in the SIR mapping app. He said efforts must be made to ensure affected voters were able to vote, urging PDA Praharis to draw the attention of the Election Commission and courts to the issue, reach out to deprived voters, run awareness drives, and, if needed, be ready for protest as “the right to vote is the foundation of all our rights.”
He added that only the first phase of their work had ended and the journey ahead still required sustained effort.
To monitor discrepancies in voter lists, the party deployed PDA Praharis across the state. A senior SP functionary said these workers collected ground inputs and shared them with district presidents, who forwarded compiled reports to the party headquarters. These were then sent to SP state president Shyam Lal Pal and submitted daily to the Election Commission.
The last date for submitting enumeration forms is December 11. The second phase of the SIR of electoral rolls commenced on November 4.
Meanwhile, PDA Praharis across districts have scaled up field activity. In Siddharthnagar district, help centres have been set up at more than 50 booths in Jogia Block, which has been flagged for low SIR progress. Teams are working with BLOs to trace EPIC numbers and complete counting forms. Pamphlets are being distributed across over 200 booths in the Shohratgarh Assembly constituency. “The 2003 voter list for all 410 booths has been provided to workers to help voters,” said Manendra Mishra, national vice president, Teachers’ Association, SP.
In Kasganj’s Patiyali Assembly seat, SP national spokesperson Abdul Hafiz Gandhi said only two days remained and workers were in continuous outreach mode. He said e-rickshaw campaigns, camps, and trained BLAs had increased participation, especially among first-time voters.
