The Bihar Assembly's Wednesday session suddenly heated up when Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav raised questions about the Special Voter List Revision campaign being conducted by the Election Commission. He described it as discriminatory and opaque, making several serious allegations. In response, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar also flared up and bly reprimanded Tejashwi. During this, there was a long period of heated arguments and debates in the Assembly.
Tejashwi Raises Questions on Transparency
Standing in the House, Tejashwi Yadav said that the process of revising the voter list was not being conducted properly. He said, "Our opposition is not against improving the voter list, but the way this campaign is being conducted lacks transparency. The Election Commission has asked for 11 types of documents, but it is difficult for the poor in Bihar to have all these documents." Tejashwi said that millions of Biharis who live outside the state are likely to have their names removed from the voter list. He said, "The person who has gone out for employment returns to Bihar to vote, but now there is a fear that his name will be removed from the voter list."
Nitish's Counterattack: 'Don't Be a Child'
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar got angry at Tejashwi's words and stood up from his seat and lashed out. Nitish said, "Hey, do you know, don't be a child... When you were with us, you praised us. Now that you are not with us, you are making baseless allegations." He said that he had given 50 percent reservation to women and implemented many schemes for minorities. Nitish reminded that Tejashwi's parents have also been in power for a long time. He said, "When your father was a minister, your mother was the chief minister, what was the system at that time? What development took place? Before 2005, people could not go out in Patna city in the evening. When we came to power, peace and development came to Bihar."
Questions on Fake Legislators and Chief Minister
Tejashwi Yadav raised a big question, saying that if the Election Commission is receiving complaints about the names of outsiders in the voter list, then are the previous elections also suspicious? He asked, "Is Nitish Kumar a fake Chief Minister? Were the current legislators also elected by fraudulent means?" He said that if this campaign had to be run, it could have been done in February or after the Lok Sabha elections. But starting it in the rainy season will affect poor, rural, and remote voters.
Issue of Foreign Voters
Tejashwi also said that some ministers and the Deputy Chief Minister of the government are claiming that the names of foreigners—Bangladeshi, Nepali, or Myanmarese citizens—have been included in the voter list. But the Election Commission has not yet confirmed any such infiltration. He said, "When the Election Commission itself is not admitting that any foreigner has been included, then why are these rumors being spread?"
Nitish Mentions Achievements
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar listed the achievements of his government. He said, "We have done historic work in the state in areas like education, health, women empowerment, and minority welfare. We even gave you the chair of Deputy CM. But instead of working, you people only did politics."
