Tejashwi Yadav alleges electoral fraud in Bihar, says CEC acting at BJP’s behest

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and LoP in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, addresses a press conference at his official residence on October 5, 2026 | Photo Credit: PTI INDIA bloc leader and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) national working president Tejashwi Yadav on Monday (October 5, 2026) shared details of the action plan against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged illegalities in the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise.On October 7, Bihar leaders of the INDIA bloc will launch an Aakrosh March against the CEC, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the block level. On October 8, they will hold a sit-in protest in all districts, followed by a demonstration at the Lok Bhavan in Patna — led by the Leader of the Opposition Mr. Yadav.He said the INDIA bloc planned a nationwide movement during its Delhi meeting to protest the alleged conspiracy by Mr. Modi, Mr. Shah, and the CEC to dismantle democracy.Mr. Yadav further alleged that Mr. Kumar has become a puppet of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), citing irregularities, such as the mass removal of voters’ names from electoral rolls and wrongly marking them as dead.He also pointed out that, ₹10,000 was deposited into women’s accounts right up to the election day, in violation of the Model Code of Conduct, to benefit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Bihar Assembly election.The RJD leader claimed that ₹50,000 crore was siphoned from the State treasury to purchase votes.“Voting records were previously retained for a year but Gyanesh Kumar changed the rule to reduce this period to 45 days; this clearly reveals his intentions. There was electoral fraud in Bihar. The Commission is acting in the interest of the BJP,” Mr. Yadav alleged.He was accompanied by Kapil Dev Prasad Yadav from Congress, Mukesh Sahani of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), Ramnaresh Pandey of Communist Party of India (CPI), Dhirendra Jha of CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, Ajay Kumar (CPI-M) and I.P. Gupta of Indian Inclusive Party (IIP).Mr. Yadav further said that the INDIA bloc was formed to safeguard democracy, adding Mr. Kumar took these actions at the behest of the BJP — specifically Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah.“Bihar is the ‘Mother of Democracy,’ and Modi ji attempted to dismantle democracy. We will agitate to save democracy; after all, elections will lose meaning if democracy itself ceases to exist. Saving democracy is essential, and the public has no faith in a government formed through electoral fraud and the theft of people’s votes,” Mr. Yadav said.He declared that the battle to save democracy would be fought in Bihar, and the Election Commission’s dishonesty would be exposed.BJP’s responseReacting to the allegations, Bihar BJP spokesperson Niraj Kumar Sharma said that Mr. Yadav is masking the agenda of bringing back ‘Jungle Raj’ by attacking a constitutional institution.“His statement is not concerning democracy, but a frustration of being unable to digest the 2025 mandate. RJD, whose governance style was characterised by booth capturing, fielding bogus voters, and swapping ballot boxes, is now labelling the Election Commission a “puppet.” This is not an accusation; it is a confession,” Mr. Sharma said.He further said, “Tejashwi Yadav is not set out to save democracy; rather, he has set out to discredit a clean voter list from which the names of the deceased, duplicates, and those who have migrated have been removed. The true business of vote theft flourished during the RJD’s regime, when living voters could not step out of their homes, yet the names of the dead would cast votes at the booths.” Published - October 05, 2026 09:21 pm IST