Anomaly in EVMs, may move court as Bihar poll result no reflection of people’s desire: RJD

Patna: The opposition RJD, which won only 25 out of the 143 seats it contested in the Bihar assembly elections, on Monday claimed that this mandate did not reflect people’s desire and the party may move court as there were “irregularities in the EVMs”.

Not just the RJD, the entire opposition bloc led by it suffered a crushing defeat in the polls, as the BJP-led NDA emerged victorious, winning 202 seats in the 243-member assembly, and returned to power.

"The mandate of the Bihar polls did not resonate with the situation on the ground. Despite the anger of the people towards the government, they have got such a mandate. People and politicians are not able to digest this," RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh said.

All the RJD candidates who contested the polls attended the meeting, and one of them said the party is mulling moving to court.

Senior leader and the party's former chief of the state unit, Jagdanand Singh, alleged: “Each EVM had 25,000 votes even before the polling began… and we still managed to win 25 seats".

This shows where the country is headed, he said.

Asking whether democracy is a trade, Jagdanand Singh said, “Democracy is an institutional arrangement of the Constitution. And they (NDA) are juggling with the constitution." Bhai Virendra, who won the election from Maner constituency, also alleged that there have been irregularities in the EVM. “We will seek elections through ballot papers," he said.

Sanjeev Kumar, who lost from the Parbatta seat, said, "This was unexpected. It was not meant to be. We are planning to move a court case after collecting evidence of irregularities".

He said that newly elected MLAs have been instructed to strengthen the booths and remain connected with society.

"About 1.8 crore votes have gone to the I.N.D.I.A. bloc this election, which cannot be ignored," he said.

Meanwhile, RJD workers raised slogans against the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Yadav, a close aide of Tejashwi Yadav who was the chief ministerial candidate of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc.

Yadav, his father and RJD chief Lalu Prasad, and other senior leaders like Rabri Devi were present at the meeting.

The RJD had witnessed a family feud in the residence of its founder Lalu Prasad following the poll drubbing.

Claiming that she was "cursed at" for donating a "dirty kidney" to her father Lalu Prasad in exchange for money and a party ticket, Rohini Acharya on Sunday said "she has been made an orphan", and advised all married women to refrain from saving "your God-like father if he has a son".

Her assertion came a day after her announcement that she was quitting the party and disowning her family, while putting the blame for the RJD's debacle in the recent Bihar polls on her brother Tejashwi Yadav's close aides – Sanjay Yadav, who hails from Haryana, and Rameez, who is from a political family in Uttar Pradesh.