Singh

MEMORANDUM **

Hardip Singh, a native and citizen of India, petitions for review of an order of the Board of Immigration Appeals affirming an immigration judge’s (“IJ”) order denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1252 . Reviewing for substantial evidence, Lata v. INS, 204 F.3d 1241, 1245 (9th Cir.2000), we grant the petition for review and remand for further proceedings.

First, we conclude that Singh’s testimony that there were no elections except at the village level from 1992 to 1996 does not support the adverse credibility determination. The country conditions report referenced by the IJ describes two by-elections during this period, but Singh’s lack of knowledge about these by-elections in districts other than his own does not go to the heart of his claim. See Rajinder Singh v. Gonzales, 439 F.3d 1100, 1108 (9th Cir.2006) (“An inconsistency goes to the heart of a claim if it concerns events central to petitioner’s version of why he was persecuted and fled.”).

Second, Singh’s statement that he was a lower level secretary in the Akali Dal Mann after he…