PATNA/NEW DELHI: RJD leader and the Opposition’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav on Monday slammed the Election Commission (EC) for not disclosing gender-wise voter data in the first phase of Bihar polls.
“The first phase of the election was held on November 6. Today is November 10. Despite passage of four days, the data has not been made public... Earlier, they used to provide it manually the same day. Why is the data being concealed? What is the reason for the delay,” Tejashwi told the media in Patna.
He said the second phase of the polling will be held on November 11, followed by counting of votes on November 14. “But still you don’t know how many votes were cast in the first phase even after four days of polling,” he told the media, raising doubts over Election Commission’s credibility.
Tejashwi said that the EC was working as a tool of the ruling party. “BJP will keep on committing sins and EC will keep covering it up,” he said, adding that the people were watching every action of the poll body. “The state has not witnessed any significant development in the last 20 years. With Mahagathbandhan at the helm of affairs, the state will become one of the most developed one and government jobs will be given to one member of each family,” he said.
Countering the RJD leader, an EC official said that the overall gender ratio with regard to voters turnout “is generally given at the time of final turnout” and “we still have one round of voting is left”.
On allegations of deployment of forces and observers in poll-bound state, particularly belonging to BJP-ruled states, the EC said that nearly 80% of the police forces are drawn from the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
A senior official of the poll body said, “Only about 20% of the police forces are deployed from the State Armed Police forces, which are drawn proportionately from different states as per availability.”