Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of manipulating Bihar's voter list in coordination with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, August 13. The poll body was alleging to be giving two Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers to BJP workers and leaders, he accused.
Addressing a media conference, Yadav alleged that the ECI was "assisting BJP leaders" in getting duplicate voter cards in Bihar prior to the Assembly polls, PTI said. He also accused names of outsiders of being included in Bihar's voters' lists during the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Now Gujarat's people are becoming voters of Bihar. BJP in-charge Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya has become a voter of Patna. He voted in Gujarat for the last time in 2024, but he remains a voter of Patna. His name was removed from Gujarat, but it has not been five years yet, and you started voting and changing places," Yadav said.
He asked, "When the Bihar polls are completed, then after having his name struck off, where will he go? This is a conspiracy which you people will have to realize. BJP is resorting to large-scale dishonesty in collusion with the Election Commission."
On the SIR issue, Yadav pointed out that it is currently under the Supreme Court’s consideration. “Yesterday, those whose names were listed as deceased in the SIR were presented alive in court. This is a serious matter that people are calling vote theft, but at the behest of the BJP, the Election Commission is engaging in ‘vote chori’,” he alleged.
RJD chief asserted that the BJP in previous elections used agencies like CBI, ED, and Income Tax department to intimidate the Opposition. "When those techniques lost steam, the Election Commission came to the front," he stated.
Yadav also accused "vote chori" in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. "Now that the truth is out, the BJP has gone silent… In 2020 too, votes were stolen by the Election Commission. We were vanquished on 10 seats by 12,000 votes. In the Chandigarh Mayor election, they were caught despite CCTV, so the Election Commission abolished the CCTV completely. The people of the nation know everything… The Election Commission is only favoring the BJP.". It is cutting votes of opposition and generating two EPIC numbers for BJP individuals in one assembly constituency," ANI reported him as saying.
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