PatnaSeptember 4, 2025 07:54 PM IST
First published on: Sep 4, 2025 at 07:54 PM IST
THREE days after the conclusion of Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav’s Voter Adhikar Rally, which drew huge crowds across Bihar, BJP ally and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) supremo Upendra Kushwaha has said that the Election Commission should have given more time for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of poll rolls in the state.
Asked about the Yatra at The Indian Express’s Idea Exchange session Thursday, the RLM chief and former Union minister said he did not think that the SIR was an issue on the ground. “But it is true the EC should have given more time to conduct SIR as people did face inconvenience.”
Kushwaha also acknowledged that the Yatra may prove productive for the Congress. “The Voter Adhikar Yatra found hardly any resonance with the people. But Rahul Gandhi could have gained as he got good visibility in Bihar after a long time,” he said.
At the same time, the RLM leader said, the Opposition failed to prove its claims regarding the SIR. “It does not matter what they say during press conferences… The fact remains that they failed to record their complaints officially with the EC,” Kushwaha said.
The EC has said that it had received claims and objections regarding the poll rolls in proper format only from the BJP, and Mahagathbandhan allies RJD and CPI(M-L) Liberation, and none from the Congress, up till the cut-off date of September 1.
Earlier in July, days after the SIR began, Kushwaha had said in an interview to The Economic Times: “Revision of voter lists is nothing new and it has happened in the past too. In my view, the time given by the EC is too short. The EC should have started this one or two years ago considering the population.”
Asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that the NDA would take a call on its chief minister face after the polls, Kushwaha said there was no question that Nitish Kumar would lead the alliance in the coming Bihar Assembly elections. However, he repeated that Nitish should bring his son Nishant Kumar into the JD(U) organisation.
“There are no two ways about Nitish Kumar leading the NDA in the coming polls and also continuing to remain the CM. What Amit Shah ji could be referring to is the normal protocol of consultations with allies before declaring the CM.”
However, Kushwaha, who is a Rajya Sabha MP, parried questions on whether there was a need for the NDA to have a common minimum programme and coordination committee, as was seen during the times of Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the PM.
Indicating that the BJP was a different party now, Kushwaha said: “The BJP has come a long way since the days of George Fernandes (as NDA convenor). We should not draw comparisons between the present NDA and the NDA of earlier.”
Dismissing Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party as a non-factor in the polls, the RLM leader said: “When the match is between India and Pakistan, why should we discuss Australia?”
He added that it was easy to claim as Kishor did that the caste factor could be mitigated in polls. “We are endorsing a nationwide caste census because its data would help us bring new policies to bring parity in society. Once we cross this stage, we can talk of a casteless society,” Kushwaha said.