Amid the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, the poll body had set 5 pm on August 16 as the deadline for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to surrender his allegedly fake Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC).
A row had erupted when Yadav had in a press conference on August 2 and said that a search conducted with his EPIC number was yielding the result “no records found” in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of the SIR.
The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for Digha Assembly constituency issued several notices to the Opposition leader rejecting his claim, stating that the EPIC number in question was never issued by the EC.
Tejashwi had been told to explain why he had two different EPICs after he brandished a voter card during the press conference that was purportedly different to the one under which he was registered in the draft electoral rolls published recently amid the SIR in Bihar.
After this, he pointed out that even Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha and Muzaffarpur Mayor Nirmala Devi had two EPICS. They were also subsequently sent notices by the EC, as were LJP (RV) MP Veena Devi and her husband, JD(U) MLC Dinesh Singh, for being enrolled as voters in two different constituencies. Veena Devi and Dinesh Singh have also been asked to respond to notices by August 16.
Yadav has continued his attacks against the EC despite the notices, accusing the poll body of “colluding” with the BJP to “steal” votes in Bihar, where assembly polls are due later this year.
The EC is facing attacks not only over the SIR in Bihar, but also from the Congress over alleged voter fraud in other states. Against this backdrop, Congress leader and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is set to launch a 16-day “Voter Adhikar Yatra (Voter Rights March)” in Bihar on Sunday. The yatra will culminate in a rally held by the Congress and the RJD at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on September 1.
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At a dinner for top INDIA alliance leaders in Delhi on August 7, Gandhi Yadav invited all of them to attend the Patna rally. If they all turn up for the rally, it would mark a rare event when the Opposition bloc leaders would be sharing a dais.
– With PTI inputs
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