Political tempers soar as Tejashwi accuses Bihar Dy CM of having dual voter IDs

Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav set political temperatures in Bihar soaring on Sunday accusing Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha of having registered himself as a voter in two Assembly constituencies – one in Lakhisarai in the Munger district under EPIC Number IAF3939337 and the other in Bankipur in the Patna district under EPIC Number AFS0853341.

He said, “It raises questions about the credibility of month-long Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar by the Election Commission of India (ECI), especially because a deputy chief minister’s name is listed in two constituencies. The ECI must clarify whether this fraud was committed by Sinha or is the result of irregularities in the SIR process.”

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What’s more, the RJD leader pointed out that Sinha has also manipulated his age. “In the voter list of Lakhisarai Assembly constituency, Sinha’s age is mentioned as 57 years, while in the voter list of the Bankipur Assembly constituency, his age is shown as 60 years.”

Accusing Sinha of violating the election commission’s guidelines, which constitutes a serious offense, he asked why no notice has been issued by the Patna or Lakhisarai district administrations against Sinha, while in his (Tejashwi’s) case a media trial was initiated without verifying facts.

Later, Deputy CM Sinha clarified that his name was initially listed in the Bankipur Assembly constituency voter list along with his family members. On 30 April 2024, he applied to add his name to the Lakhisarai Assembly constituency voter list and simultaneously submitted an online application to remove his name from the Bankipur Assembly constituency voter list.

But when the draft voter list was published, he realised that his name was listed in two places. Thus, on 5 August, he submitted an application to the Booth Level Officer (BLO) to remove his name from the voter list of the Bankipur Assembly constituency. But he votes only at one place.

However, despite the clarification from Sinha, the issue continued to escalate with Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram demanding his resignation from the post of deputy chief minister, saying the BJP leader has committed a crime by possessing dual voter IDs.

Bihar Congress Spokesperson Rajesh Rathod asked: “When will the election commission issue notice to Vijay Kumar Sinha?”

Reacting to the issue, Union Minister and NDA leader Chirag Paswan assured media persons that the ECI would investigate the issue and take appropriate action.