EC Fires Back After Tejashwi Yadav’s Claim of Being ‘Removed From Draft Electoral Roll’

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has strongly rebutted claims by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav that his name was missing from the draft electoral roll, calling the allegation "baseless" and "factually incorrect." 

The controversy erupted after Tejashwi Yadav, during a press conference in Patna, claimed that his name did not appear in the draft voter list released by the ECI on August 1. He even demonstrated his search using his Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number, which showed a "Not Found" result.

EC’s Firm Rebuttal

In an official statement, the ECI clarified, "It has come to our attention that Tejashwi Yadav has made a mischievous claim that his name does not appear in the draft electoral roll. His name is listed at Serial Number 416 in the Draft Electoral Roll. Therefore, any claim stating that his name is not included in the draft electoral roll is false and factually incorrect."

The poll body further emphasized that Yadav remains a registered voter in Patna and questioned the motive behind his allegations.

The Election Commission also pointed out that the period for filing claims and objections regarding the electoral roll is open from August 1 to September 1.

In a statement, the ECI said, "He should ask 47,506 Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of his party to file claims and objections if they find that the name of any eligible voter is left out or if the name of any ineligible voter has been included. No BLA of any political party, including RJD, has submitted a single case to Booth Level Officers (BLOs) during the last 24 hours. All his BLAs have agreed to go through the booth-wise draft lists given to them on 1st August carefully." 

The ECI added, "ECI is not able to understand why he is continuing to make baseless allegations that his name is not there."

'My Name Missing From Draft List': Tejashwi Yadav Questions EC, Asks 'How Will I Contest Polls?'

Earlier, Yadav had raised concerns over his exclusion from the draft list, questioning, "How will I contest the upcoming assembly elections?" He claimed that despite submitting his enumeration form during the special revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls, his name was missing.

Yadav further alleged widespread discrepancies, stating, "Almost 20 to 30 thousand names have been removed from every assembly constituency. A total of around 65 lakh, meaning about 8.5% of voters' names, have been removed from the list."

He accused the ECI of withholding crucial details, saying, "In the list provided to us by the Election Commission, they have cleverly not given the address of any voter, no booth number, and no EPIC number, so that we cannot find out whose names have been removed from the voter list."

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