ECI shreds Tejashwi Yadav’s voter fraud claims, reminds him 47,000 RJD agents are part of the SIR process
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday, 9th July, countered the ‘baseless’ charges leveled by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) over alleged irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, an exercise that has triggered a major political showdown in poll-bound Bihar.
The controversy erupted after RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav took to the social media platform X on Tuesday, 8th July, accusing the ECI of conducting the voter revision campaign in an “unconstitutional and disorderly” manner. He alleged that the SIR process was being misused to manipulate electoral data ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections.
Tejashwi alleges widespread electoral fraud
In his post, Mr. Yadav stated that Bihar, the birthplace of democracy, was witnessing a violation of basic voter rights. He raised serious concerns about the ECI’s 2025 voter revision drive, claiming it was riddled with “chaos, confusion, and illegal practices.”
He alleged that fake forms were being submitted without documents or verification, and that oral instructions were being issued to fill in forms without complete details. He further claimed that officials were obtaining fake signatures, declaring literate people as illiterate to obtain thumb impressions, and uploading voter data without individuals’ knowledge.
“Data entry operators and supervisors are being assigned the impractical target of uploading 10,000 forms per day. All this is being rushed before the July 10 Supreme Court hearing to hide the truth through manipulated data,” Tejashwi posted.
He also flagged discrepancies in documentation norms, saying some officials were accepting Aadhaar as sufficient while others said no documents were needed at all — leading to massive confusion among voters. Calling the entire exercise a “live show of forgery,” he alleged that a pre-planned conspiracy was underway to delete genuine voters, especially the poor and backwards, from the electoral rolls.
“There are no resources, no training, no internet, no clear guidelines, and yet there is pressure to complete the process in haste. Is this not an attempt to tamper with democracy?” he asked, announcing a chakka jaam protest across Bihar against what he described as “dictatorial actions.”
ECI responds with fact-checks and clarifications
In response to these serious allegations, the Election Commission firmly rejected RJD’s charges and shared a detailed clarification on X. It stated that the SIR exercise is being conducted as per established norms and protocols and that the allegations being circulated are factually incorrect and misleading.
Sharing a post on X which claimed that the RJD had appointed 47,504 booth-level agents who were actively working on the ground, and that nearly 4 crore forms (50% of the target) had already been collected under the SIR initiative. However, ECI’s official fact-check unit flagged this post as misleading.
Another RJD leader’s false claim also flagged
Adding fuel to the fire, another senior RJD leader, Manoj Kumar Jha, shared an image of an ECI letter on X, questioning the Commission’s refusal to meet the party representatives after 10th July. He accused the ECI of first agreeing to a meeting post-July 10 and then backing out.
The ECI responded to this, too, calling the claim “misleading.” It reiterated that procedural integrity is being maintained and that its communication with political parties has been transparent.
The Commission also clarified that as of now, there has been no official communication or response from RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav or his authorised representative Tejashwi Yadav, regarding the matter.
According to a letter issued on 3rd April, 2025, Manoj Jha was not authorised by the RJD president to represent the party in any official dialogue with the Election Commission. He was only authorised to attend the 2nd July meeting, which he did.
So far, the Commission has held consultations with five national parties and four regional parties as part of the SIR process.
Why don’t the claims hold ground
Independent fact-checkers and analysts have pointed out inconsistencies in the allegations made by RJD leaders. While Tejashwi Yadav claims voter data is being manipulated, there is no documented proof or formal complaint to the Commission from the RJD leadership.
Furthermore, the viral claim about booth-level agents and form collection was proven to be inaccurate by the ECI’s verification.
Even within the party, contradictory messaging has emerged, with different leaders presenting different versions of events. The Commission maintains that it is following standard protocols and that allegations of selective voter deletion are unfounded and politically motivated.
Opposition comments raising the political showdown
The RJD’s campaign against the ECI appears to be part of a broader narrative being pushed by the Opposition. Speaking to the media at Patna airport, Congress leader Allavaru accused the BJP of orchestrating a behind-the-scenes operation to remove Dalits, minorities, and backwards caste voters from electoral rolls.
He said, “The BJP is using the ECI in Bihar just like they did in other states. This is a massive conspiracy to prevent poor and marginalised voters from participating in the upcoming elections.”
Congress leader Mr. Kumar also alleged that the revision drive was being hurriedly executed with the intent to disenfranchise Congress and Grand Alliance supporters. “The documents being demanded cannot be produced by many from backwards communities in such a short time,” he said.
Terming the ECI a “victim” of BJP pressure, he claimed similar voter deletions had occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra in recent elections.
Earlier on 25th June, in a meeting with the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar along with political parties, the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had strongly voiced criticism against the revision of the voters’ list before the Assembly election in Bihar.
RJD spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan, headquarters in-charge general secretary Mukund Singh, and State general secretary Madan Sharma were representing the party.
In the meeting, Mr. Gagan raised the question that the Bihar Assembly election is on the horizon and in such a scenario, it will not be practical to conduct a verification in a short time.
He had alleged that there was a “well-planned conspiracy” to deprive lakhs of poor people of Bihar of their right to vote. He stressed the question that since the special revision has not been done since 2003, what is the need to conduct it now, when the Assembly election is a few months away.
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