A Fact-Check From Poll Body After Tejashwi Yadav's "Name Missing" Claim

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav today claimed that his name had been omitted from the state's draft electoral roll. The Election Commission of India (ECI), however, has firmly rebutted the claim, terming it "factually incorrect".

Mr Yadav claimed that nearly 65 lakh voters have been removed from the state's draft electoral roll, ahead of assembly elections scheduled this year. The Election Commission yesterday released the draft voter list for Bihar, following a month-long special intensive revision (SIR) exercise.

"My name is not there in the electoral roll. How will I contest the elections?" he asked.

The poll body countered by saying that Mr Yadav's name does appear in the draft roll, listed at Serial Number 416. The row comes just days after the Election Commission was forced to respond to separate allegations of electoral manipulation made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Yadav further attempted to verify his voter details using what he claimed was his Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number -- a unique alphanumeric code printed on voter IDs -- but allegedly failed to retrieve his information from the Election Commission's online portal.

"Almost 20 to 30 thousand names have been removed from every assembly constituency. A total of around 65 lakh voters, or about 8.5% of the total, have had their names removed from the list. Whenever the Election Commission issued an advertisement, it would mention that many people had shifted, many were deceased, and many had duplicate names... But in the list provided to us by the Election Commission, they have cleverly not given the address of any voter, no booth number, and no EPIC number, so that we cannot find out whose names have been removed from the voter list," Mr Yadav claimed. 

According to Election Commission sources, the EPIC number Mr Yadav was quoting is invalid. Sources said that a preliminary verification suggests the possibility that Mr Yadav might be in possession of two different voter ID cards. 

The poll body has launched an investigation into Mr Yadav's claims, with sources adding that an FIR will be registered against the former deputy chief minister of Bihar if he is found to be in possession of two voter ID cards.

The Tejashwi episode came less than 24 hours after a more explosive allegation from Rahul Gandhi, who accused the Election Commission of being complicit in "vote theft."

"Votes are being stolen. We have open-and-shut proof that the Election Commission is involved in this vote theft. And I'm not saying this lightly, I'm speaking with 100% proof. And when we release it (proof), the entire country will come to know that the Election Commission is enabling vote theft. And who are they doing it for? They're doing it for the BJP," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Mr Gandhi claimed that the Congress had independently conducted a six-month-long investigation into voter list manipulation and found evidence amounting to an "atom bomb."

 "The things we found are an 'atom bomb'. And when this atom bomb explodes, you won't see the Election Commission in the country," Mr Gandhi said. "Whoever in the Election Commission is involved - from top to bottom - we will not spare you. This is no less than treason. Even if you are retired, we will find you."

The Commission described Mr Gandhi's remarks as baseless and irresponsible. It said that both an email and a formal letter were sent to the Congress MP on June 12, inviting him to present evidence and discuss concerns about the electoral roll. According to the poll body, Mr Gandhi neither acknowledged the communication nor responded.

"Despite the daily threats being given, we ask all election officials to ignore such irresponsible statements and work in a fair and transparent manner," the poll body said.  "EC sends a mail to him 12 June 2025. He does not come. EC sends him a letter on 12 June 2025. He does not respond. He has never sent any letter to EC on any issue whatsoever. It is very strange that he is making wild allegations and has now even started threatening EC and its staff. Deplorable!"