Tejashwi Yadav SIR row: EC asks RJD leader to submit EPIC card for investigation after BJP's voter ID allegations

The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday asked Bihar RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to hand over for investigation a voter ID card that he claimed to have, stating that it was not issued officially.

The leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly had on Saturday demonstrated an online search with his Election Picture Identity Card (EPIC) number, claiming that his name was missing in the draft electoral rolls published as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and, upon rebuttal from authorities concerned, alleged that his voter ID card number was changed, as per a PTI report.

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The EC, in its rebuttal, had declared that his details appeared at serial number 416, which corresponds to Election Picture Identity Card (EPIC) number RAB0456228. An EPIC number is a 10-digit unique identification number attached to every voter ID.

Yadav then doubled down on the allegation, declaring that his EPIC number had been changed.

In an August 3 letter addressed to Yadav, the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Patna Sadar, who is also the Electoral Registration Officer for the Digha assembly constituency, said:

“As per your statement at your press conference, your EPIC number is RAB2916120. Our preliminary investigation suggests that the EPIC number you mentioned at the press conference on August 2 was not issued officially. You are therefore requested to hand over the EPIC card in original for detailed investigation.”

This letter follows BJP's claim against the RJD leader that the EPIC number Yadav had cited at a press meet was different from the one he officially carried, alleging that he had two EPIC numbers, which is a crime.

"The EPIC number in the electoral rolls is the one that was submitted by the honourable leader of the opposition in his affidavit in the 2020 assembly polls. If he is in possession of another EPIC card with another number as well, then it is a matter of investigation," Patna's District Magistrate Shirshat Kapil Ashok had said earlier.

NDA leaders, however, have maintained that the INDIA bloc was "staring at a certain defeat" in the upcoming assembly polls, and that Tejashwi Yadav's EPIC controversy was only an "excuse" to raise doubts over the SIR carried out by the EC.

It was comparable to "anticipatory bails sought by criminals", they claimed, as per the PTI report.

India