Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha on Monday said that he respects constitutional institutions and will answer the poll panel’s queries after the Election Commission (EC) served him a notice by the Election Commission (EC) for allegedly holding two voter cards.
“I respect the country’s Constitution and all constitutional bodies. I am not like Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav,” said the senior BJP leader.
The Opposition, led by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and the Congress, has accused Sinha of being registered as a voter in two separate constituencies in Bihar — Patna’s Bankipur and Lakhisarai — as reflected in the draft electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Sinha clarified that he was a voter in Bankipur, but last year applied for registration in Lakhisarai, his assembly segment, and requested authorities to delete his name from Patna’s rolls.
“For some reason, my name wasn’t removed from Patna and so I called the BLO and submitted a written application…. I have all the documents,” he said.
The EC has directed Sinha to respond by August 14.
The poll panel had earlier issued a notice to Tejashwi Yadav for allegedly possessing two voter cards, one of which, according to officials, had not been “issued officially”.
Tejashwi, facing his own EC notice, questioned the action against Sinha on Sunday.
“The Dy CM of Bihar, Vijay Sinha, a close associate of Modi ji, has two different EPICs (electoral photo identity card) in two districts. Surprisingly, it has happened after the SIR of electoral rolls by the EC,” Tejashwi wrote on X, sharing purported screenshots of the draft rolls.
“Who should be held responsible, Sinha himself or the EC? What action is being taken against Sinha? Will he receive two different notices or are these rules only for the Opposition?” Tejashwi asked on Sunday.
He alleged discrepancies in Sinha’s voter records. “Sinha’s age is 57 years on one list and 60 years in another. Is this not fraud and an age scam?” he posted, accusing the EC of possible manipulation of voter lists to favour BJP supporters.
On being accused by the EC of holding a “fake” EPIC, Tejashwi countered that the error was the poll panel’s own doing. “Whose lapse is it if two EPIC numbers were issued to me?” he asked.