Tejashwi Yadav claims Bihar deputy CM has two EPIC numbers

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday claimed that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha has two Election Photo Identity Card numbers in two different Assembly constituencies.

The leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly added that one of the numbers purportedly linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader was in the Lakhi Sarai Assembly seat in Lakhi Sarai district, while the other one was in the Bankipur seat in Patna district.

“In one place, his age is 57 years, while in the other, it is 60 years,” the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader added.

Yadav claimed that Sinha had filled two different enumeration forms in two Assembly seats.

Addressing a press conference during the day, Yadav also claimed that the entire process pertaining to the special intensive revision of Bihar’s electoral roll was “fake”, The Hindu reported. He said that the Election Commission should not become a tool for helping the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

“If Mr Sinha is found guilty, he should resign and if EC is guilty, the EC commissioner should apologise,” he said.

Responding to Yadav’s claims, Sinha said that he had applied earlier for his name to be removed from Bankipur, but the name was not deleted, ANI reported. He showed documents showing that he had applied for his name to be deleted from the voter roll in Bankipur.

“It is sad that a person sitting on a constitutional post tarnishes politics with his language; this does not befit him,” Sinha said, referring to Yadav.

Yadav’s allegations came a week after he had claimed in a press conference that his name was missing from the draft electoral roll released by the Election Commission on August 1.

However, electoral authorities in the Digha Assembly constituency in Patna said that his claim was baseless and showed the extract of the draft roll where his name was present. The Electoral Registration Officer of the Digha constituency said that the voter ID card that Yadav showed during the press conference appeared to be fake.

Bihar voter roll revision

The revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar was announced by the Election Commission on June 24.

As part of the exercise, persons whose names were not on the 2003 voter list needed to submit proof of eligibility to vote.

Voters born before July 1, 1987, were required to show proof of their date and place of birth, while those born between July 1, 1987, and December 2, 2004, had to also submit documents establishing the date and place of birth of one of their parents.

Those born after December 2, 2004, needed proof of date of birth for themselves and both parents.

The draft roll was published on August 1 as part of a special revision ahead of the Assembly elections expected in October or November in the state. It showed that 65.6 lakh names had been deleted from the list.