Lucknow, Apr 8 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Friday demanded special arrangements for maintaining fairness and transparency in polls for 36 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats on Saturday.

He said that the manner in which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other BJP leaders were making claims of winning all the seats raises a question mark on the government's intention.

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"For the sanctity of democracy and free-fair voting, we hope the Election Commission will discharge its constitutional responsibility. We hope the ruling party will not be allowed to rig tomorrow's voting," Yadav was quoted as saying in the statement by the party.

He alleged the manner in which the BJP "looted" the nomination papers of the opposition candidates in Panchayat elections it is clear that the party has no faith in democracy and free and fair elections.

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"Even in the local authority legislative council elections, the drama of unopposed election under the pressure of the BJP government has been on display.

"In the context of these incidents, it can be concluded that the BJP government will not desist from rigging these elections as well and it is evident that it is conspiring to forcibly get a majority in the Legislative Council," the Samajwadi Party chief said.

Nine MLCs from eight local authorities' constituencies have been elected unopposed. These seats are Budaun, Hardoi, Kheri, Mirzapur-Sonbhadra, Banda-Hamirpur, Aligarh, Bulandshahr and Mathura-Etah-Mainpuri.

Yadav alleged, "It is also clear that the BJP government has no hesitation in misusing the administration anyhow to gain a majority in the elected institutions."

"The BJP government wants to impose an opposition-free and monopolistic rule on Uttar Pradesh by intimidating and luring village heads, BDCs and other voters through officials. This conduct of BJP is an alarm bell for democracy," he claimed.

Following a resounding victory in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the BJP has set its eye on becoming the single-largest party in the state Legislative Council also by winning a majority of the 36 Upper House seats going to polls on Saturday.

These seats are spread across 35 local authorities' constituencies. The biennial poll was earlier planned on two dates but now it will be conducted together on April 9. Counting will take place on April 12.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)