PATNA: The Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) on Friday submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission (EC), demanding the deployment of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel at all polling booths and urging authorities to ensure that Jeevika Didis were not "used" on polling day.
Kishor is contesting the Bankipur bypoll against BJP candidate Neeraj Kumar Sinha and RJD nominee Rekha Kumari, also known as Rekha Gupta. The memorandum was submitted to the state's chief electoral officer at his office in Patna.
Speaking to the media later, JSP state president Manoj Bharti said CAPF personnel should be deployed at all polling booths to ensure the smooth conduct of elections.
He alleged that while CAPF personnel were assigned duties outside polling booths, the party had found instances where they were deployed inside booths and assigned other tasks.
The party urged the Election Commission to look into the matter, stop such "improper practices", take appropriate action and hold election officials accountable for ensuring compliance, Bharti said.
Bharti accused the BJP of violating the model code of conduct during the campaign. He claimed that false and misleading posters targeting Kishor had been put up at several intersections in Patna over the past two days.
The JSP leader further alleged that party posters and banners placed on people's homes with their consent were forcibly removed by BJP workers, who replaced them with BJP flags, posters and banners.
He claimed that BJP workers were posing as municipal corporation employees but were unable to produce identity cards.
He also alleged that BJP posters and banners were being installed without permission from property owners.
Bharti said the party had requested the Election Commission to take note of the allegations. He also alleged that during the 2025 Assembly elections, government machinery had used Jeevika Didis outside polling booths on voting day and, in some places, even inside polling booths.
The party has urged the Election Commission through its memorandum to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
Earlier, the nomination papers of Veena Manvi, the candidate of Janshakti Janata Dal (JJD), were rejected during scrutiny. The JJD is led by Tej Pratap Yadav, the estranged son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
The RJD has fielded Rekha Gupta as its candidate for the seat.
Gupta had unsuccessfully contested the previous Assembly election from Bankipur and was defeated by Nitin Nabin by a margin of over 51,000 votes in the 2025 polls.
