New Delhi [India], August 13 : Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Wednesday accused the Election Commission of being "a tool" in the hands of those who decide what the election results will be." He said the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, has laid bare how more than one Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number is being created for the same voter to manipulate the voter list.
"The election results are being controlled by someone else. The Election Commission has merely become a tool in the hands of those who decide what the election results will be," Jha told ANI.
"The awakening of people in a democracy is welcome... The Leader of Opposition has laid bare, layer by layer, how EPIC numbers are being created," he said.
Earlier in the day, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the EC is working with the Bharatiya Janata Party to manipulate the voter list in Bihar by issuing two EPIC numbers to its leaders and workers.
Speaking at a press conference in Patna, Yadav stated, "Before we had talked about Bihar's deputy chief minister, Vijay Sinha. Now you call it a crime, a mistake, or an expose, we had said it before too, but today I want to tell you that EC is helping the BJP, and cutting the votes of the Opposition. The people of the BJP are being given not one, but two EPIC numbers for themselves, in one Vidhan Sabha only."
"We are exposing one more thing. Muzzafapur's mayor, a BJP leader named Nirmala Devi, has two EPIC IDs in the same Vidhan Sabha. In that, too, they are different. Not only this, but Nirmala Devi has two brothers-in-law; they also have two EPIC numbers," he added.
The RJD leader further alleged that the names of people from other states were being added to Bihar's voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the assembly elections.
"Now the people of Gujarat are becoming voters of Bihar. Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, who is in charge of the BJP, has become a voter of Patna. He cast his last vote in Gujarat in 2024, but he is still a voter of Patna. He had his name deleted in Gujarat, but it's worth noting that it hasn't been five years, and you started changing places and voting. When the Bihar elections are over, then where will he go after getting his name deleted?" Yadav alleged.
He claimed that in earlier elections, the BJP used agencies such as the CBI, ED and Income Tax department against the Opposition, but when those methods became less effective, the Election Commission was "brought forward." He also alleged that "vote chori" took place in the 2020 Bihar elections.