Patna, August 5: India’s Election Commission has asked Bihar opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav to produce his voter identification card after he alleged that his name was missing from the state’s draft electoral roll, prompting accusations and counter-allegations ahead of assembly polls.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader, and former deputy chief minister, had claimed during a press conference on Saturday that his name was absent from the updated list released a day earlier and displayed a voter ID bearing EPIC number RAB2916120, which he said he used to vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
However, the Election Commission of India (ECI) rebutted the claim, stating that Yadav’s name does appear on the roll — but under a different EPIC number: RAB0456228 — and requested him to submit the card he referred to publicly for further examination.
“The EPIC number RAB2916120 does not appear to be officially issued,” the Electoral Registration Officer of the Digha constituency said in a letter to Yadav, asking him to provide the original card for verification. No deadline was set for the submission.
Yadav is registered as a voter in the Digha Assembly seat but represents Raghopur in the State Assembly. The electoral entry listed him at serial number 416 of polling station number 204 at the Bihar Animal Science University.
During Saturday’s press conference, Yadav accused the ECI of functioning like a “BJP cell,” questioning how he could contest the upcoming Assembly election if his voter ID was not reflected in the draft roll.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) responded by urging the ECI to take legal action, stating that possession of two voter IDs by a single individual constitutes a criminal offence. BJP and its allies demanded an investigation into the origin of the second EPIC number.
Meanwhile, the ECI said no political party in Bihar had submitted formal claims or objections to the draft roll as of 3 p.m. on August 3, though it received 941 individual submissions from voters seeking corrections or additions. The controversy adds to the political tension in Bihar ahead of Assembly polls, as opposition parties accuse the Commission of bias, a charge it strongly denies.
