Patna (Bihar) [India], July 13 : Ahead of assembly elections in Bihar slated for later this year, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday raised serious concerns about voter verification and possible deletion of names from the electoral rolls.
Addressing a press conference here today, Tejashwi claimed that if even one per cent of voters are left out during the verification process, nearly 7.9 lakh voters across the State could lose their right to vote. "This means around 3,251 voters could be removed in each assembly seat," he said.
He pointed out that during the last election, RJD lost 52 seats by margins of just around 5,000 votes. "If 3,200 votes are cut in each assembly, it can make a big difference," he said.
Tejashwi alleged that many of these voters are people who have migrated outside Bihar for work and questioned whether their names were being removed without proper checks or communication. "Is this just eyewash? Why are these voter deletions happening under the direction of Amit Shah or Modi ji?" he asked.
He further asked whether the Election Commission was carrying out these actions without informing the public and demanded transparency in the voter verification process ahead of the elections. "Is this being done without concern, without informing the voters?" he added.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections has invited massive criticism, with the opposition parties and leaders labelling the revision of voter list as "backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)" alleging "vote theft" while also prompting them to question the independence of the constitutional body.
However, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the centre, along with the double-engine government led by Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar in Bihar, has accused the opposition of "playing politics on the shoulders of wrongfully registered voters" while claiming that they were targeting the ECI to save themselves from political defeat.
The INDIA bloc on Wednesday held a massive "Bihar Bandh" rally in Patna against electoral roll revision in the poll-bound state, where Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi alleged that the pattern of electoral manipulation seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav called the ECI a "Godi Aayog" while accusing the NDA alliance of using the constitutional body to remove the name of "Bihar's poor people" from the voter list.
Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year, in October or November.