Patna, July 24: Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav has once again warned of a possible Mahagathbandhan boycott of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, citing alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list.
He said this on Thursday while speaking to the media on the Assembly premises after the House was adjourned. “We are openly considering what is happening with the voter list and have kept the option of boycotting the elections open,” Tejashwi said, adding that elections have “no meaning if they are compromised”.
Tejashwi alleged large-scale fraud in the voter revision process, claiming, “Lakhs of forms are being filled at one place with forged signatures. The Election Commission’s process, backed by the government, is a fraud to artificially inflate voter numbers.
If foreigners are illegally voting, how did they enter the list despite the NDA ruling Bihar for 20 years and the Centre for 11 years?” Tejashwi asked. Tejashwi expressed disappointment that CM Nitish Kumar did not answer on SIR in the House, stating that silence indicates government endorsement of ECI’s alleged fraudulent process.
Tejashwi pointed out that the ECI’s affidavit in the Supreme Court does not mention foreign voters. He said that if any foreigners have names in the voter list, identifying illegal foreigners is the job of the Union Home Ministry, not the Election Commission.
Tejashwi also accused Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary of lying, noting the Labour Ministry has admitted in Lok Sabha that three crore people migrate from Bihar for work, contradicting the government’s narrative.
Taking a dig at the Assembly’s atmosphere, Tejashwi said, “There are some ministers in the Assembly who jump like monkeys just to remain in the spotlight. They have neither three months of experience nor any concrete points.”
Tejashwi questioned why an FIR was lodged against a journalist amid SIR protests. That journalist was reporting the ground reality of SIR. The RJD leader pointed out that the voter list was updated in February this year. “So why is SIR being done again?” he said. Tejashwi’s renewed warning of a poll boycott escalates the standoff between the opposition and the NDA government, making the SIR issue a central political flashpoint ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.
IANS