Allegations of electoral malpractice in Uttar Pradesh often surface, and a fresh case from Mahoba district has stunned even the State Election Commission. Ahead of the upcoming panchayat polls, authorities found that as many as 4,271 voters were registered under a single house in Jaitpur village. This anomaly came to light during an artificial intelligence-based survey carried out by the commission. What raised eyebrows further is that the village has a total voter count of just 16,000, meaning nearly one-fourth of the electorate was listed under one small three-room residence.
The Election Commission immediately sent a Booth Level Officer (BLO) to the site to verify the claim. When the house owner was asked about the registrations, he expressed complete shock, claiming no knowledge of how so many voters were linked to his address. Officials noted that such a massive cluster of fake voters could easily determine the election results. With 4,271 votes, a candidate’s victory would be almost certain, and these numbers were enough to secure not only the post of village head but also seats for two panchayat members and one block representative.
Following the revelation, the commission identified the legitimate residents of the house and labeled the rest as bogus voters. Steps have been initiated to cancel their registrations. Interestingly, this is not the first such case in Mahoba. Earlier, 243 fake voters were discovered registered under the address of a small roadside pan shop. These findings highlight deep-rooted irregularities in the voter list. Officials emphasized that such fraudulent entries could manipulate grassroots democracy, and strict measures are being enforced to prevent misuse before the elections.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission has launched a detailed voter list verification drive ahead of the three-tier panchayat polls. The program will run until September 20, during which AI tools are being deployed to detect duplicate and fake voters. BLOs are conducting on-ground checks for each flagged case. In Jaitpur, house number 803 emerged as the most shocking example, with thousands of voters registered under one roof. Mahoba’s Additional District Magistrate, Kunwar Pankaj, confirmed that corrective measures are underway to clean up the electoral rolls and ensure fair polls.