PATNA: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Tuesday charged the Election Commission with trying to “fix” upcoming Bihar assembly polls in favour of the ruling BJP at the Centre which, he claimed, found the CBI, ED and Income Tax department “ineffective” against the saffron party’s political opponents.Yadav went hammer and tongs at the EC at a press conference here, alleging that the poll panel is providing more than one voter ID card to many BJP voters.The leader of the opposition said the option of boycotting the assembly elections, due later this year, is open in view of the poll panel being allegedly “hell bent upon treachery”.“The EC is unabashedly trying to fix the assembly polls in favour of the BJP. The constitutional body seems to have replaced agencies like CBI, ED and Income Tax department, which have proven to be ineffective in the game of cornering those opposed to the party that rules the Centre,” Yadav alleged.INDIA bloc leaders have been alleging that the BJP-led central government uses agencies such as CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) to intimidate opposition functionaries.He claimed that as part of the game, the EC is providing more than one voter ID card to many BJP voters.”Last year, I had exposed the case of Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha. Today, I wish to bring to light the instance of Muzaffarpur Mayor Nirmala Devi, who may well be the BJP candidate in the upcoming polls. Both she and her husband’s younger brother, in addition to another relative, have two voter ID cards each,” Yadav said.They must have also filled up as many enumeration forms, and officials involved in the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls chose to look the other way, he alleged.Shortly afterwards, the district administration of Muzaffarpur served a notice to Nirmala Devi and her two relatives for allegedly possessing two voter ID cards, and asked them to reply to it by August 16.Sinha, who claims to have applied last year to delete his name from the voters’ list in one of the two places, had been served with a notice last week.”Tejashwi Yadav should first come clean on the two EPIC cards that he possesses. He is levelling baseless charges against me. I am mooting legal action,” the BJP leader said.At the press conference, Yadav expressed bewilderment over the EC never talking to the press “despite so much controversy”.“Democracy seems to be seriously imperilled in this country. The Prime Minister never talks to the press, nor does the chief minister of Bihar. Now, the Election Commission seems to be following their example,” he said.
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