The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday asked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to "hand over for investigation" a voter ID card that he claimed to possess but which the authorities say was "not issued officially."
Tejashwi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, had on Saturday alleged that his name was missing from the draft electoral rolls published by ECI after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. After officials had countered his claim, the RJD leader alleged that his voter ID number had been "changed."
In a letter to the former Deputy Chief Minister, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Patna Sadar—who also serves as the Electoral Registration Officer for the Digha assembly constituency—wrote: "Our preliminary investigation suggests that the EPIC number you mentioned at the press conference on August 2 was not issued officially. You are therefore requested to hand over the EPIC card in original for detailed investigation."
TNIE had earlier reported that ECI had ordered an investigation to ascertain if second EPIC issued to Tejashwi was forged. The poll body said that ‘second EPIC’ was not made through official channels.
On Saturday, Tejashwi held a press conference in Patna where he claimed his name was missing from the revised electoral rolls. “How can I contest election if my name is missing from the electoral rolls?” he asked.
To drive home his point, the RJD leader displayed his Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number (RAB2916120) and entered it into the poll body’s official mobile application, which showed a ‘no records found’ error.
In response to a media query, he said, “How can my wife’s name be there when my name is missing from the voter’s list?” He, however, admitted that a Booth Level Officer (BLO) had visited his residence and obtained all details regarding the revision of electoral rolls.
Tejashwi further said, "EC used to mention how many people have shifted to other places, how many people are deceased, and how many people have duplicate names, but in the draft voter list provided to us by it, they have cleverly not given the address of any voter, no booth number, and no EPIC number, so that we cannot find whose names have been deleted from the voter list.”
Patna District Magistrate Dr Thiyagarajan SM swiftly refuted the allegations levelled by the Opposition leader and shared details of Yadav’s electoral records. “...In this regard, an investigation was conducted by the district administration, Patna. It has been clarified that the name of the Leader of the Opposition is registered in the draft voter list,” he wrote on X.
"Currently, his name is listed at polling station number 204, the library building of Bihar Animal Sciences University, with serial number 416. Previously, his name was recorded at the library building of Bihar Animal Sciences University, polling station number 171, with serial number 481," Thiyagarajan added.
However, Yadav stuck to his guns and raised a fresh claim that while his name may exist on the rolls, the EPIC number had been changed.
“I would like to know how the administration managed to change my EPIC number in the draft electoral rolls,” he said, reported PTI.
When asked about this specific allegation, Patna DM Shirshat Kapil Ashok clarified that the EPIC number in the current draft rolls was the same as the one Yadav had submitted during the 2020 Assembly elections.
“If he is in possession of more than one EPIC, then it is a matter of investigation,” he said.