‘Vote rakshaks’ to guard poll rolls: Aazad Samaj Party
Party sources said that the direction has been given by party Chief Chandrashekhar Azad and that these vote rakshaks would continue to work till next polls in the state

Amid its “vote chori” (vote theft) campaign, the Aazad Samaj Party has decided to appoint “vote rakshaks” (vote protectors) , local volunteers tasked with safeguarding the electoral process, across Uttar Pradesh and in other states where the party is active. The party plans to name four volunteers for every polling booth in the state, with a target of roughly four lakh vote rakshaks in UP alone.
The first batch of volunteers was appointed in Hamirpur district in the Bundelkhand region, party leaders said, and work is under way to identify similar volunteers at the booth level across the state.
“The party has decided to appoint four volunteers in every booth of Uttar Pradesh as vote rakshaks, whose work would start right from formation of the voter list and its revision,” Satyapal Chaudhary, the Ajad Samaj Party in-charge for western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, told reporters. He said the volunteers would be local residents who know their area well.
Chaudhary said the vote rakshaks would ensure there is “no vote chori (theft)” in future elections by checking that names of deceased persons are removed from the rolls and that eligible voters are not omitted.
“Our vote rakshaks (protectors) would ensure that names of such voters, who are no longer alive, are excluded from the list and at the same time, names of those who are alive are not omitted.”
Party sources said that the direction has been given by party Chief Chandrashekhar Azad and that these vote rakshaks would continue to work till next polls in the state and would also ensure that no “fake voting” takes place at their respective booths.
Meanwhile, the first four “vote rakshaks”, who have been appointed for Hamirpur unit of the party are “Mukesh Prajapati, Atul Kumar Verma, Sushil Kumar Verma and Nilesh Kumar.
Chaudhary informed that the idea is to select such volunteers, who are well versed with their local area people and at the same time can devote time in house to house checking of the voter list and also during final casting of votes.