Tejashwi Yadav under scrutiny over voter ID claims by Election Commission

The Election Commission (EC) has formally requested Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to submit a voter ID card for investigation, which he claimed to possess despite it "not issued officially". This move follows Yadav's assertion of discrepancies in electoral rolls and an alleged "changed" voter ID card number.

On Saturday, Yadav publicly demonstrated an online search using an EPIC number, alleging his name was missing from draft electoral rolls. However, the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Patna Sadar-cum-Electoral Registration Officer for Digha assembly constituency stated that preliminary investigations suggest the EPIC number Yadav mentioned was not officially issued. 

District Magistrate Thiyagaraja S M repudiated Yadav's claim 

of a "changed" EPIC number, confirming the number in the electoral rolls matches the one submitted in Yadav's 2020 assembly polls affidavit. The District Magistrate noted that if Yadav possesses another EPIC card, it warrants investigation.

Meanwhile, spokespersons for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, including BJP's Ajay Alok, JDU's Neeraj Kumar, and Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas' Rajesh Bhatt, have demanded a case be registered against Yadav. They assert that Yadav should be booked for allegedly having two EPIC cards, which is prohibited. 

The NDA also questioned if this "fraud" by the RJD leader was the "atom bomb" that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had threatened to use against the Election Commission. Rahul Gandhi had previously claimed to have evidence of "vote chori" by the EC in favour of the BJP. NDA leaders suggested the INDIA bloc is anticipating defeat in upcoming assembly polls and is seeking excuses by raising doubts about the EC's special intensive revision process.