SIR row: 'EC doesn't know Bihar's history or geography', says JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav

New Delhi: JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav on Wednesday attacked the Election Commission over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying that the exercise will raise questions on the verdict of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress immediately latched on to the remarks and said it is not coincidence and it is a reflection of the "scale and seriousness of this electoral fraud".

Yadav said, "if the electoral roll was correct for the Lok Sabha polls, then how it can be incorrect for the Assembly polls to be held in a few months. Have I been elected on the basis of the incorrect electoral roll? It will then raise questions on the entire poll process."

Asked about his remarks varying from JD(U) and NDA, he shot back, "can't the MP speak truth? I was talking from my experience."

He claimed that the Election Commission lacks practical knowledge and it knows neither Bihar's history nor its geography.

"They (people of Bihar) are busy in paddy farming now. Now they have to search for all kinds of documents and submit them to officials. They are facing so much trouble. The EC must give at least six months for the SIR. They should hold the exercise during the summer," he said.

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal posted on 'X', "the dubious SIR exercise in Bihar, and those planned in other states, are not merely ‘political propaganda’ by the opposition as the BJP claims. This isn’t a narrative crafted by the Congress or the Opposition. There is a genuine apprehension among voters that this is a calculated 'vote-bandi' exercise designed to manipulate electoral outcomes."

"When partners within the NDA themselves raise alarm, it exposes the rottenness at the core of this operation. These statements are not coincidence - they are a reflection of the scale and seriousness of this electoral fraud. A truly independent and transparent scrutiny will lay bare what it really is: a massive vote theft unfolding under the ECI’s watch," he added.