Patna/New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday asked Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to “hand over for investigation” a voter ID card that he claimed to be in possession of despite having been “not issued officially”, in a development that came a day after the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly claimed that his voter ID card was not available in the new draft electoral roll.
Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at Yadav, alleging that the RJD leader had two EPIC (Election Photo Identity Card) numbers and two Voter IDs, and termed his accusation against EC a “conspiracy to defame India.”
Addressing a press conference in Patna on Saturday, Yadav demonstrated an online search, with the EPIC number RAB2916120, to claim that his name was missing in the draft electoral rolls published as part of special intensive revision (SIR).
Also Read: EC junks Tejashwi Yadav's claim, says voter ID he showed does not exist
The former Bihar deputy chief minister questioned whether he would be allowed to vote in the upcoming assembly elections slated to be held in October-November this year. EC, however, later clarified that Yadav’s officially registered EPIC number was RAB0456228 and he had used the same in his 2020 election affidavit.
“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,” the sub divisional magistrate of Patna Sadar-cum-electoral registration officer for Digha assembly constituency said in a letter to Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}“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,” the sub divisional magistrate of Patna Sadar-cum-electoral registration officer for Digha assembly constituency said in a letter to Yadav.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the RJD leader alleged that his EPIC number had been “changed”, but the same was refuted by Patna district magistrate Thiyagaraja SM. “The EPIC number in the electoral rolls is the one that was submitted by the honourable leader of the opposition in his affidavit in the 2020 assembly polls. If he is in possession of another EPIC card with another number as well, then it is a matter of investigation,” the DM said.
The ruling BJP lashed out at the Opposition over this issue, with party lawmaker Sambit Patra accusing Tejashwi Yadav of spreading misinformation about the electoral process.
“This means he (Tejashwi Yadav) had two EPIC numbers... Did he have two voter IDs? The way in which Congress and RJD are scathing an attack on the EC, is a conspiracy to defame India,” Patra told reporters in Delhi.
Though Yadav did not make any comment on the letter issued by the SDO Patna Sadar till Sunday evening, RJD spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan alleged that the letter to the Opposition leader was a ploy by EC to divert attention from the questions raised by Yadav regarding alleged anomalies in the SIR exercise.
“...In the draft rolls issued in which Tejashwi’s name figures with a particular house number, several other electors’ names having different surnames have been mentioned having the same house number. Does one family have members with different surnames? This must be clarified by ECI,” Gagan said.