Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, the former Uttar Pradesh CM claimed that elections were increasingly being manipulated through a “10-number model” of politics.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP and the Election Commission (EC) over what he called “vote ki dakaiti (dacoity of votes)”, alleging that a “multi-layered election mafia” was influencing democratic processes in the country.

Referring to the recently held West Bengal elections, Yadav said what Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee suffered this time was faced by his party earlier.

Addressing a press conference in Lucknow , the former Uttar Pradesh CM claimed that elections were increasingly being manipulated through a “10-number model” of politics.

Citing vote share figures from the previous UP Assembly elections, he said the SP had higher percentage of votes in 2012, 2017 and 2022 and the BJP’s vote share was significantly lower in the 2024 bypolls, reflecting “unnatural…