Tejashwi Yadav has alleged that all BJP leaders and workers are being issued two voter ID cards.
- Mayor of Muzaffarpur asked to explain alleged possession of two voter ID cards by August 16
- RJD alleges that BJP leaders, including the mayor and her relatives, hold multiple EPIC voter ID numbers
- RJD's Tejashwi Yadav also alleged that people from other states are being allowed to vote in Bihar elections
The Mayor of Muzaffarpur have been asked to explain two voter ID cards that she allegedly has, sources have said. The Electoral Registration Officer has issued a notice to Nirmala Sahu, directing her to submit a response by 5 pm on August 16. The notice comes following allegations against her by Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav and the growing scrutiny over voter list discrepancies in Bihar.
In a campaign dubbed "Vote Chori (vote theft) spearheaded by the Congress's Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition leaders have been alleging multiple voter IDs, which, they say, are being used to manipulate electoral outcomes.
Speaking at a press conference in Patna earlier today, Mr Yadav said, "We are exposing one more thing. Muzzafapur's mayor, a BJP leader named Nirmala Devi, has two EPIC IDs in the same Vidhan Sabha. Her two brother-in-laws also have two EPIC numbers".
The senior RJD leader alleged that all the BJP leaders and workers are being issued two voter ID cards.
"We have talked about Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sinha. Now you call it a crime, mistake, or an expose, we had said it before too, but I want to tell you that EC is helping the BJP, and cutting the votes of the Opposition. The people of BJP are being given not one, but two EPIC numbers for themselves, in one Vidhan Sabha," he alleged.
Earlier, the BJP was using the central investigative agencies against the Opposition, he alleged. But now that people have got wise to it, they are deputing people from other states to vote in Bihar, he added.
"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?" he said.
He also alleged that "vote chori" took place in the 2020 Bihar elections. His party, he said, lost 10 seats over a meagre 12,000 votes or less.
"Some with 12 votes, or 50, or 500 votes, that way we had many seats which we were made to lose. Similarly with Chandigarh you would have seen how they do it, in broad daylight they did it. Now there was a CCTV so they were caught, that is why the EC has removed CCTV only. Look how neutral they are," he said.
