Narrative of Tejashwi, entire Oppn destroyed: JD(U) amid row over Bihar SIR

Janata Dal United (JDU) on Sunday slammed Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, who claimed that his name was missing from the new draft voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and said that the narrative of Tejashwi and the opposition has been "destroyed".

"Tejashwi Yadav's theft has been caught. Sometimes he cries about names being removed from the voter list, and sometimes he spreads lies about the EPIC number. The truth is that now the narrative of Tejashwi and the entire opposition has been completely destroyed," the party said in a post in hindi on social media platform X.

After Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, claimed that his name was missing from the voter list, the Electoral Registration Officer in Patna on Sunday asked him to provide the details of the EPIC card he mentioned during his press conference, so that the matter can be thoroughly investigated.

In a press conference on Saturday, Tejashwi said his name was not included in the new draft voter list being revised in Bihar. However, officials checked the records and found that his name is listed.

It appears at serial number 416 of polling station number 204, which is located at the Library Building of Bihar Animal Science University. The official EPIC (voter ID) number listed is RAB0456228. But in his press conference, Tejashwi mentioned a different EPIC number, RAB2120. Officials say that number, or a similar one (RAB2916120), does not seem to be valid.

Now, the Electoral Officer has asked Tejashwi to submit the EPIC card he referred to, so they can investigate further and clear up the confusion.

"According to you, from your press conference quote, your import number is RAB2120. As per preliminary investigation import number RAB2916120 does not appear to be officially issued. Therefore, you are requested to kindly provide the details of the mentioned Impic card (along with the original copy of the card) mentioned by you in the press conference held on 02.08.2025 to the undersigned so that it can be thoroughly investigated," the letter reads.

A day earlier, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had also refuted his claim.

"My name is not there in the electoral roll. How will I contest the elections?" Tejashwi Yadav asked after he was unable to fetch his name using his Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number.

However, the ECI clarified that Tejashwi's name is included in the draft voter list at serial number 416.

ECI, in a statement, stated, "It has come to our attention that Tejashwi Yadav has made a mischievous claim that his name does not appear in the draft electoral roll. His name is listed at Serial Number 416 in the Draft Electoral Roll. Therefore, any claim stating that his name is not included in the draft electoral roll is false and factually incorrect."

Earlier today, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released a bulletin detailing the progress of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar. The data covers submissions and updates received between August 1 (3 PM) and August 3 (3 PM), 2026.

According to the report, a total of 1,60,813 claims and objections were received from political parties regarding the draft voter list. However, none have been resolved yet, as per the 7-day waiting period mandated by election rules.

Among national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) submitted the highest number of claims and objections at 53,338, followed by the Indian National Congress with 17,549, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with 74. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also submitted a small number of entries.

From the state parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) filed 47,506 objections and claims, while Janata Dal (United) submitted 36,550, and CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation filed 1,496.

In addition to the submissions from political parties, the ECI received 941 claims and objections directly from individual voters, relating to the inclusion of eligible voters or the removal of ineligible ones. These too, are yet to be resolved, following the standard procedure.

Furthermore, 4,374 new voters aged 18 and above have submitted Form 6 to be added to the electoral roll. Their applications are also awaiting processing.

The ECI reiterated that no names can be deleted from the draft voter list until due process is followed, and each claim or objection is carefully examined by the respective Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) or Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) after a mandatory 7-day period.