Lucknow: A bizarre error on a voter ID card in Uttar Pradesh has triggered a political controversy after the state’s chief electoral officer, Navdeep Rinwa, responded sarcastically to allegations of caste bias raised by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh.
The voter ID reportedly carried the name “Ramhit Yadav” as “Ram ne Yadav ko maara”, which translates to “Ram hit Yadav”. The error prompted Singh to question whether the software used in preparing electoral records was biased.
In a post on X, Singh asked why Ram had supposedly hit a Yadav and not people with surnames such as Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai or Bisht. “Is your computer casteist? Are you implementing the agenda of any political party?” he asked, addressing the Election Commission.
Responding on X, Rinwa maintained that computers and software were not casteist. He also cited another error in the electoral roll prepared for a recent legislative council election, in which a voter’s father’s name was reportedly recorded as “Ram ne Sharma ko maara”, or “Ram hit Sharma”.
Acknowledging the mistakes, the Uttar Pradesh CEO said the errors had occurred but suggested that they did not reflect caste discrimination.
“Fortunately, when this mistake happened, no caste discrimination took place. By God’s grace, ‘Ram’ did not hit any minority person! Otherwise, along with allegations of casteism, we would also have faced allegations of communal provocation,” Rinwa said in a sarcastic response.
His remarks have drawn criticism from AAP and other political quarters, turning what appeared to be a data-entry error into a wider debate over electoral administration and accountability.
The incident has also raised questions about the accuracy of voter records and the need to correct errors in official documents. While Rinwa attributed the mistakes to software-related issues rather than deliberate bias, the episode has intensified political scrutiny of the electoral process in Uttar Pradesh.
