Patna: RJD leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav cut a sorry figure on Saturday by telling reporters that his name was missing from the revised draft voters’ list for Bihar that was published by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday.
Within moments, the ECI dug out his name from the list and called Yadav’s statement a “mischievous claim”.
Yadav was addressing a press conference in Patna, when he displayed his Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number and entered it into the poll body’s official mobile application. The result was a “no records found” error message.
“Even my name has been deleted from the voters list. Now how am I going to contest the elections,” Yadav said.
Immediately after his claim, the ECI released a copy of the electoral rolls showing his details, confirming that he is listed as a voter at a booth in the Veterinary College in Patna.
“It has come to our attention that Tejashwi Yadav has made a mischievous claim that his name does not appear in the draft electoral roll. His name is listed at Serial Number 416 in the Draft Electoral Roll. Therefore, any claim stating that his name is not included in the draft electoral roll is false and factually incorrect,” the Commission said.
However, the EPIC number provided by the poll body differed from the one shared by Yadav.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) that was undertaken in Bihar by the ECI has triggered a major controversy, with the Opposition strongly criticising it as an “exercise in exclusion” and a “conspiracy” to disenfranchise communities that form its core vote bank. Amid intense protests both inside and outside Parliament, the Election Commission on Friday released the revised draft rolls, eliminating 65 lakh names it identified as illegal voters.
“Were any notices given to the 65 lakh voters whose names have been deleted? Did the 65 lakh voters get any chance to appeal?” Yadav asked, further alleging that the ECI “is involved in targeted work to end democracy”.
He accused the Constitutional body of “acting dictatorially” and said it paid no attention either to the Opposition’s complaints and suggestions or to the suggestions made by the Supreme Court.
The draft electoral rolls, prepared as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) with just a few months left for assembly polls, are available for voters online.
The commission has also said it was making available printed copies, district wise, to representatives of political parties so that anomalies, if any, could be flagged during the ‘claims and objections’ phase, which would continue till September 1 before the ‘final rolls’ are published.
