Bihar Politics: NDA Attacks Tejashwi For Questioning Voters’ List Review

Patna: NDA on Friday hit back at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav after the latter objected to the special intensive review of the voters` list in poll-bound Bihar.

State JD (U) president Umesh Kushwaha contended that the opposition was scared of its imminent defeat in the coming assembly election, and so it was trying to put the regular and transparent processes of a democratic country in dock by raising baseless questions.

“It seems the opposition is trying to find an alibi for its imminent defeat in the election,” he added.       

BJP spokesperson Kuntal Krishna said what was wrong if the Election Commission had ordered for the special intensive review of the voters` list in poll-bound Bihar. He said that the RJD, Congress and their allies were making such a hue and cry over the matter only because they feared names of bogus voters would be deleted from the voters’ list.

On the other hand, Tejashwi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Nitish Kumar over the special intensive review of the voters’ list before Bihar assembly elections and alleged that it was intended at erasing the names of poor and marginalised voters from the electoral rolls.

Addressing a press conference  along with the leaders of other allies of  the INDIA bloc at his official residence in the state capital, Tejashwi claimed that the Election Commission (EC) was playing a joke with the democracy and constitution, asking why the EC wanted to do a very ‘suspicious and worrisome’ exercise.  He said that documents demanded were  such that the poor might not even have them. 

“Whether there  is an attempt to weaken democracy at the hint of the Centre? Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scared, and that's why they are taking such steps,” he claimed.

“These RSS/BJP people want to snatch voting rights of the poor and oppressed class and even today (Friday), RSS advocated for changing the constitution,” he alleged.

RJD leader asked under what compulsion, special intensive review of the voters’ list was required after 22 years of such an exercise and also when the assembly elections were only two months away.

“Whether the Election Commission is not aware that it is the time of monsoon and Bihar`s 73 percent of the area is flood-prone? Whether government employees and people will protect lives and properties from the flood or will move around to collect data for the Election Commission,” he asked.RJD leader claimed that there were eight crore bonafide voters in Bihar and out of them, nearly 4.76 crore voters who were 40 years of age or less had to prove their citizenship from July 1 to July 31, 2025 as per the guideline of the EC.  Is it possible to prepare the voters` list for eight crore people within 25 days, he asked.

 "Our delegation will meet the Election Commission with our all concerns," he added. 

RJD leader said that the process of revision of the voters’ list started on Friday but he could claim that more than 90 percent of DEOs/EROs did not have the voter list of 2023, and so how could they do their assigned job. “BJP and its allies like JD (U), who are opposed to the constitution and democracy, want to snatch voting rights of the poor and oppressed class. They will erase their names from the voter list first and later will not provide identity cards, stop paying pensions, and also scholarships being given to SCs, STs, and OBCs, he alleged.