Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 13 : All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary KC Venugopal on Wednesday claimed that the Congress has proof that the Election Commission (EC) is not neutral. He also questioned the EC's order to "destroy" the CCTV footage of the polling stations.
"We have proof that the Election Commission is not neutral. We wanted an electronic voting list, but we were not provided with that. Why was there an order to destroy the CCTV footage?," Venugopal told ANI in Varanasi.
Venugopal also announced that all the top leaders of the Opposition Mahagathbandhan alliance in Bihar will participate in the Yatra against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.
"On the issue of SIR, we have planned a Yatra from 17th August to 1st September. The Yatra will commence from Sasaram and end in Patna. Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and all leaders of the Mahagathbandhan will be present in the Yatra," he said.
Earlier in the day, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the Election Commission of India is working with the Bharatiya Janata Party to manipulate the voter list in Bihar by issuing two Electors Photo Identity Card (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 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.