Tejashwi says his name missing from voter list, Bihar Dy CM refutes claim

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleges his name and 6.5 mn others removed from Bihar voter list; Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary counters with screenshot showing Yadav's details in draft electoral roll

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav has alleged that the Election Commission has deleted names of around 6.5 million voters from the electoral rolls in Bihar — nearly 8.5 per cent of the total voters — without providing enough information to trace them. He added that even his own name is missing from the list, raising serious questions about the transparency of the process.

 

“My name is not there in the electoral roll. How will I contest the elections?” Yadav said, while showing his phone as proof. 

  He said that the lists shared by the Election Commission do not contain vital details like addresses, booth numbers, or EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) numbers of the voters. This, he alleged, has made it impossible to identify whose names have been removed. “Almost 20,000-30,000 names have been removed from every assembly constituency. A total of around 6.5 million voters, or about 8.5 per cent of the total, have had their names removed from the list." he said.

 

However, Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary refuted the claim, sharing a screenshot, purportedly, of the draft electoral rolls in which Yadav's details, along with a photograph, could be seen.

 

In a post on X, Choudhary said, "Tejaswi ji, not only I but your family and the entire Bihar have doubts about your capability. It must be very difficult for you to find your name in the SIR draft. Your name is respectfully listed at number 416 along with your father, you can check it."

 

  Calls for EC accountability, seeks SC intervention

 

The RJD leader said, "Whenever the Election Commission issued an advertisement, it would mention that many people had shifted, many were deceased, and many had duplicate names... But in the list provided to us by the Election Commission, they have cleverly not given the address of any voter, no booth number, and no EPIC number, so that we cannot find out whose names have been removed from the voter list,” he said.

 

Yadav demanded that the Election Commission publicly release booth-wise details of the voters who have been removed. He also urged the Supreme Court to step in and take cognisance of the issue. “We demand that the Election Commission (EC) address the issue of removed voters in the show cause notice, providing booth-wise details publicly. When transparency is not ensured, we demand that the draft electoral date be extended until this is resolved. We further demand that the Supreme Court (SC) take cognisance of this issue from the EC,” he said.   

 

EC responds: Claims and objections open for a month

 

On Friday, the Election Commission released the draft voter list for Bihar, following a special intensive revision (SIR) drive. The EC said the public and political parties have one month to file claims and objections and assured that no name would be removed without a valid reason.

 

“The draft voter list has been released today in Bihar. One-month period for claims and objections begins; draft list shared with political parties. Still a full one month to get names added. No name will be removed from the draft voter list without a stated reason,” the EC said in a post on X.   

 

  According to the EC, more than 72.4 million electors in Bihar filled the Enumeration Forms and were included in the draft electoral roll.

 

From August 1 to September 1, any individual or political party can file claims or objections regarding additions or deletions to the list by submitting the prescribed form to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO).

 

(With agency inputs)