Bihar: Poll official directs Tejashwi Yadav to produce his 'second' voter ID card

Patna, Aug 3 (IANS) A day after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav stirred a row with a claim that his name was missing in Bihar’s draft electoral roll, the election office on Sunday wrote to him seeking details of his ‘second’ EPIC number which, according to him, had been deleted from the voter list.

The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) of Digha Assembly constituency asked the Leader of Opposition to present the original copy of the voter ID card whose number was alleged to be missing from the draft electoral roll.

“You are requested to kindly provide the details of the EPIC card (along with the original copy of the card) mentioned by you in the press conference held on August 2, 2025 to the undersigned, so that it can be thoroughly investigated,” wrote the ERO.

The letter dated August 3 said the communication was linked to Tejashwi Yadav’s “statement given in the press conference held on August 2, 2025 regarding non-inclusion of names in the draft electoral list published on the basis of eligibility date July 1, 2025”.

Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday kicked up a controversy at his press conference by conducting a live online search on Election Commission’s website with the help of his EPIC number which yielded the result “no records found”.

He had claimed that since he was not registered as a voter in Bihar he was not qualified to contest the upcoming elections.

Hours later, the ECI sources described the RJD leader’s claims as baseless and hit back with results of their detailed investigation.

In a post shared on X, the DEO’s office wrote: “Tejashwi Yadav’s claim that his name is missing from the electoral roll post-Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is false. His name appears at Serial Number 416, and his polling booth number is 204 — Veterinary College, Patna.”

ECI sources said the RJD leader used Electoral Roll with Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) No. RAB0456228 for filling his nomination papers on affidavit in 2020. He had this EPIC number even in the electoral roll in 2015.

However, an inquiry showed that there is another EPIC number - RAB2916120 – in his name which has been found to be non-existing.

Sources said despite a thorough check of 10-year-old documents related to Tejashwi Yadav, no records have been found for the second EPIC number yet.

“It is highly likely that the second EPIC was never made through official channel,” said a source in Bihar election office, adding that an inquiry is still on to understand the reality of the second EPIC number, and to rule out whether that is a forged document.

Meanwhile, the BJP on Sunday attacked Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday for his "failed" attempt to discredit the recent electoral roll revision exercise in Bihar by claiming that his name had been struck off.

--IANS

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