Patna/New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday asked the President Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashvi Yadav to “hand” a voter ID card for investigation that he claimed despite “not being officially issued”, a development that came a day after protest in Bihar Assembly that his voter ID card was not available.
Meanwhile, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked Yadav, alleging that the RJD leader had two epics (election photo identity cards) numbers and two voter IDs, and called his charge “conspiracy to defame India”.
Addressing a press conference in Patna on Saturday, Yadav performed an online search, with the epic number Rab2916120, to claim that his name was missing in the electoral role published as part of the Special Intensive Amendment (SIR).
Also Read: EC Junks Tejashwi Yadav’s claim, says that the voter ID he showed is not present
The former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar questioned whether he would be allowed to vote in the upcoming assembly elections to be held in October-November this year in the upcoming assembly elections. The EC, however, later clarified that Yadav’s officially registered epic number was Rab0456228 and used it in his 2020 election affidavit.
“Our preliminary investigation shows that the epic number mentioned in the press conference on August 2 was not officially released. So you are originally requested to hand over the epic card for a detailed investigation,” Patna Sadar-cum-Elector Registration Officer for Digha Assembly Constitutions, Sub Divisional Magistrate of Digha Assembly Constitution said in a letter.
Later, the RJD leader alleged that his epic number was “changed”, but it was also denied by Patna District Magistrate Thiagaraja SM. The DM said, “The epic number in the electoral role is the one who was presented by the Honorable Leader of the Opposition in his affidavit in the 2020 assembly elections. If he is in possession of another epic card, it is a case of investigation,” said the DM.
The ruling BJP excluded the opposition on the issue, the party’s legalist Sambbit Patra accused Tejashvi Yadav of spreading misinformation about the election process.
“This means that he (Tejashvi Yadav) had two epic numbers … Do they have two voters IDs? The way Congress and RJD are attacking the EC are a conspiracy to discredit India,” Patra told reporters in Delhi.
Although Yadav did not comment on the letter issued by SDO Patna Sadar till Sunday evening, RJD spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan alleged that the letter to the opposition leader was a trick to divert attention from the questions raised by Yadav about the alleged discrepancies in the head practice by the EC.
“… in the rolls released in the draft rolls, in which the figures of Tejashvi’s name are with a special home number, many other voters have been mentioned to have the same house number with different surnames. Does a family have a separate surname member? It should be clarified by the ECI,” Gagan said.
