News Desk: Unusual names and incorrect personal details have surfaced in the electoral rolls prepared for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, raising questions about the digital process used to compile voter records. Officials have identified 158 entries with irregularities among more than 14.81 lakh voters listed across 11 constituencies.
According to a report by PTI, some voter name fields contained bizarre phrases such as “Ram ne Yadav ko maara”, “Ram ne Sharma ko maara”, “Murkh Kaali Devi” and “Takkar Maarna”. In another instance, “B.Com” was reportedly recorded as a voter's father's name. Several of the discrepancies were reported in the Allahabad-Jhansi graduates' constituency.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa acknowledged the errors on Thursday. In a post on social media platform X, he said that 158 entries across the electoral rolls for all 11 constituencies contained unusual details.
Rinwa attributed most of the mistakes to a software tool used during the online preparation of the voter lists. According to him, the software translated names from English into Hindi instead of transliterating them, resulting in unintended meanings.
For example, a name such as “Ramhit Yadav” could be incorrectly divided into separate words and interpreted as a sentence. The software might then convert it into “Ram ne Yadav ko maara”, which translates to “Ram beat Yadav” in English.
Although the system included an editing option to correct such errors, some incorrect entries remained in the final electoral rolls. The entry of “B.Com” as a father's name, however, appeared to be a case of human error or negligence, Rinwa indicated.
The discrepancies came to wider attention after lists highlighting the mistakes circulated on social media. Following complaints from political parties, the chief electoral officer ordered an inquiry. The investigation, led by Jhansi divisional commissioner Vimal Kumar Dubey, confirmed errors in the voter lists, PTI reported.
This is the first time Uttar Pradesh has prepared electoral rolls for the Legislative Council elections through an entirely digital process. The online portal was launched on October 1, 2025, allowing applicants to register from their homes.
The platform was developed by the election office's information technology team and supports registration, application processing, approval, rejection, duplicate-entry checks and preparation of electoral rolls.
Polling for five graduates' and six teachers' constituencies is being held from 8 am to 4 pm on Friday. More than 14.81 lakh voters are eligible to cast their ballots at 2,697 polling stations across 72 districts, with 152 candidates contesting.
To prevent eligible voters from being affected by clerical or printing mistakes, Rinwa directed district authorities to verify the necessary documents and allow qualified voters to exercise their franchise.
The authorities' response aims to ensure that errors in digital records do not deprive eligible citizens of their voting rights.
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