Alleging that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has become a “puppet of the BJP”, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday announced that the INDIA bloc will hold ‘Akrosh March’ at block levels across Bihar on October 7 to protest against “irregularities” in the SIR exercise in several states.
The opposition bloc will also stage demonstrations at district levels on October 8 and organise a march towards the Lok Bhavan here on the same day to protest against the functioning of the poll panel, he said.
The RJD leader accused the CEC of working at the “behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah” and demanded that the CEC be removed from the post.
Yadav also alleged that the assembly polls in Bihar and West Bengal, where lakhs of voters were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, were “fraudulent”.
“There were irregularities in the SIR exercise, including deletion of genuine voters. A one-year retention period for voter records was reduced to 45 days. The CEC has become a puppet of the BJP,” he claimed during a press conference here.
The RJD leader said leaders of the INDIA bloc constituents will march to the Governor’s House in Patna on October 8 to submit a memorandum against the CEC and alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
He said, “Akrosh March will be held at block levels on October 7.”
The leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly asserted that the INDIA bloc will “not allow democracy to be destroyed”.
“When democracy itself does not survive, what is the point of elections?” Yadav said, asserting that the Mahagathbandhan would fight to “save democracy”.
After October 15, INDIA bloc leaders would like to meet President Droupadi Murmu and submit a memorandum to her, if an appointment is given, he said.
Yadav also alleged that during the SIR, names of those who were alive were included on the list of deceased voters.
“In violation of the Model Code of Conduct, an amount of Rs 10,000 each was transferred into women’s bank accounts up to polling day to benefit the NDA in the 2025 Bihar elections. A sum of Rs 50,000 crore was taken from the state exchequer to buy votes in Bihar. But the EC remained a mute spectator,” he alleged.
The RJD leader also said, “The chief justice of India, who was earlier part of a panel that selected election commissioners, had been replaced by a Union minister, allowing the BJP to select the election commissioners according to its preferences.”
Yadav claimed Bihar is the “birthplace of democracy, but PM Modi experimented with how to end democracy in the state”.
“We will fight and launch a movement to save democracy. When there is no democracy, what is the point of elections ?” he added.