Tejashwi Yadav alleges name missing from Bihar electoral draft list; EC refutes

Patna: Hours after former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday claimed that his name was missing from the draft voters’ list released by the Election Commission on August 1, the EC clarified that his name was indeed there and he was a registered voter in Patna.

“Currently, his name is listed at the polling station number 204, the library building of Bihar Animal Sciences University, with serial number 416. Previously, his name was recorded at the library building of Bihar Animal Sciences University, polling station 171, with serial number 481,” clarified the district administration of Patna.

The poll panel had to issue clarification after Tejashwi, at a press meet on Saturday, filled in his EPIC number and after entering the captcha, the message said: Not found.

Tejashwi then said the EC was working as the agent of the BJP. “If my name is not there in the voters’ list, how will I contest the ensuing Assembly election,” said Tejashwi, who has been representing Raghopur Assembly constituency, a Lalu fiefdom, since 2015.

Showdown unabated

The showdown between the Opposition and the EC remains unresolved, with the former alleging that they got no satisfactory response from the EC when the poll panel was asked on what basis the names of 64 lakh voters were deleted out of 7.89 crore voters.

The EC has, meanwhile, urged the voters to cross-check the draft voters’ list and make requests for any corrections, if required. This can be done till September 25, after which the final voters list will be published on September 30. Assembly elections in Bihar are slated for October and November and the House has to be constituted by November 24.

What's the fuss about

The entire SIR exercise has been mired into controversy ever since the EC on June 24, using its power under Article 326 of the Constitution, decided to conduct Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar which had around 7.89 crore voters registered in the state.

However, after a month-long SIR drive, which ended on July 25, around 64 lakh names were deleted. Of these 64 lakhs voters, around 22 lakh voters were declared as deceased, 35 lakh had either permanently migrated or could not be traced and around 7 lakh were registered in multiple locations. “The SIR exercise was a much-needed reform to clean the Augean Stables," said the EC adding that purity had been added to the elections by weeding out bogus voters in the state.