RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of cancelling one of his Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers without informing him. Speaking to reporters in Patna on Wednesday, Tejashwi said he was unaware of the cancellation until he personally discovered that his EPIC number was missing from the ECI’s official website and mobile app. The issue came to light on August 2, prompting the Patna Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to send him notices asking him to surrender one of his EPIC cards. Tejashwi submitted his official reply to the ERO-cum-SDM on August 8.

Reiterating his claims of widespread irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, Tejashwi alleged that neither the Chief Election Commissioner of India nor the Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar has addressed the matter publicly. He accused the BJP-led central government of misusing institutions, saying, “Earlier they used ED and CBI, now they are using the Election Commission.” He alleged that the Commission’s actions are politically motivated and aimed at manipulating the electoral process in favour of the ruling party.

Citing examples to back his claims, Tejashwi pointed to Muzaffarpur Mayor and senior BJP leader Nirmala Devi, whose name allegedly appears in two separate voter lists in the same constituency, each with a different EPIC card and mismatched ages. He further alleged that her two brothers-in-law also possess duplicate voter registrations. Tejashwi added that after the RJD exposed similar irregularities involving two EPIC numbers of Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha, the Election Commission served a notice to Sinha, raising further questions about the fairness and transparency of the electoral process.