A voter ID card issued to a woman in Bihar’s Madhepura district has triggered political outrage after it was found to carry the photograph of chief minister Nitish Kumar.

The Trinamool Congress on Thursday flagged the incident on its official X handle on Thursday, calling it a “shocking and shameful” error, while accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of silence and inaction.

Raising a series of pointed questions, the party posted, “Reports of similar bizarre, erroneous voter IDs are pouring in from across states. And what is @ECISVEEP doing? NOTHING. We demand answers. This is serious administrative negligence, if not something more sinister.”

The party questioned how such serious mistakes were happening under the Commission’s watch, how many faulty voter IDs might be in circulation, which states were most affected, and whether previous elections were compromised because of these errors.

The party also asked what steps were being taken to correct the situation and how the Commission planned to ensure that ordinary citizens are not denied their right to vote due to official negligence.

The incident came to light during a public protest in Madhepura against the ongoing Special Revision of electoral rolls. Locals gathered in Jaipalpatti locality were taken aback when Chandan Kumar displayed his wife’s voter ID card to the media.

The woman at the centre of the controversy was identified as 20-year-old Abhilasha Kumari. Her husband said the faulty card had upset both of them. “If it was a photo of a common man, I could understand it was a mistake, but how could a CM's photo be placed on my wife's ID?” he repeated.

Chandan Kumar described the error as a “major flaw in the electoral system,” attributing it to the carelessness of either ECI officials or the private agency in charge of printing the cards. He added that the card had arrived by post about two and a half months ago, bearing the correct details on the envelope. “When we opened it, we were shocked to see Nitish Kumar’s photograph on it,” he said.

The local Booth Level Officer (BLO), when approached, allegedly discouraged them from raising the issue. “We were advised not to disclose the issue to anyone,” claimed Chandan.

Election official responds

Deputy election officer Jitendra Kumar said that the voter ID cards for Bihar are printed in Karnataka. He added that the error could be corrected by submitting Form 8 either online or at the sub-divisional officer’s office.

Madhepura District Magistrate Taranjot Singh confirmed that a probe had been ordered. “The entry for the election ID was done on Jan 7, 2024. The BLO who did the entry has been removed and an explanation has been requested,” Singh said. When asked whether the mistake was intentional, he replied, “We have given the BLO a week's time to provide an explanation.”