'Thank God Ram didn't hit a minority': UP CEO's jibe in voter slip row

Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa on Monday reacted sarcastically to the allegations of caste bias in an erroneous voter slip entry, saying computers and software were not casteist, adding that officials could have faced accusations of communalism had the mistake involved a minority.

The response came after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh questioned Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over an incorrect entry in a voter slip in which "Ramhit Yadav" was rendered as "Ram ne Yadav ko Maara".

In a post on X in Hindi, Singh asked, "Gyanesh Kumar ji, why did Ram hit only a Yadav? Why did Ram not hit any Singh, Pathak, Asthana, Sharma, Rai or Bisht? Is your computer casteist? Are you running the agenda of any political party?"

Replying on X, Rinwa cited another instance of a similar error in the voter list for recent legislative council elections, where a voter's father's name was incorrectly recorded as "Ram ne Sharma ko Maara".

"A strange name, 'Ram ne Sharma ko Maara', is also present in the voter list of the recent legislative council elections. Computers/software are not casteist," Rinwa said.

Acknowledging the error, the UP CEO added, "We accept that an error was made, but fortunately, even while making the error, no caste discrimination took place. Thank God that Ram did not hit a minority. Otherwise, besides being accused of casteism, we would have also faced allegations of communalism."

The CEO's office also shared a copy of the voter slip from the graduate constituency legislative council elections. It listed the voter's name as Ravi Sharma, while his father's name appeared as "Ram ne Sharma ko Maara".

The exchange has brought renewed attention to errors in electoral records and questions over the role of computer software in generating voter lists.