SC interim verdict on SIR a victory for democracy: Tejashwi Yadav

Patna, Aug 14 RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s interim decision on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, calling it “a victory for the Constitution, democracy, and the unity of Bihar’s people.”

Tejashwi said the apex court had accepted the opposition’s long-standing demands, directing the Election Commission to provide booth-wise details of all voters - over 65 lakh - whose names were deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls.

This includes data on deceased, transferred, traceless, and duplicate voters, along with Aadhaar card details.

The court also ordered the EC to upload the names on its website and issue public advertisements.

“This decision has exposed the way the Election Commission, under the influence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, removed names from the voter list and refused to share details,” Tejashwi alleged.

“BJP must understand that in a democracy, everything cannot happen as per the wishes of two individuals,” he said.

Recalling that the opposition had raised the issue on 27 June, Tejashwi accused the BJP of never believing in democratic processes.

He credited the outcome to the united efforts of opposition parties and thanked leaders from Congress, Samajwadi Party, CPI, CPI(M), TMC, DMK, Shiv Sena, NCP (Sharad Pawar), JMM, VIP, and others.

He also praised activists and legal teams, including Yogendra Yadav, for their role in the legal battle, and expressed gratitude to leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Akhilesh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, M.K. Stalin, D. Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Hemant Soren, M.A. Baby, Uddhav Thackeray, and Mukesh Sahani for standing shoulder to shoulder in the fight.

“The order revealed the truth about how the EC was functioning. We are monitoring which officers did what, and we will keep exposing such wrongdoing,” Tejashwi said.

He recalled that when the opposition highlighted cases of multiple voter identity cards linked to BJP and JD(U) leaders—including Deputy CM Vijay Sinha, MP Veena Devi, MLC Dinesh Singh, the Muzaffarpur Mayor, and others—the EC remained silent.

Tejashwi alleged that the EC’s actions were politically motivated to benefit the NDA. He predicted a crushing defeat for the ruling alliance in the upcoming polls.

He cited instances where living voters, including residents of Raghopur, appeared before the Supreme Court to prove they had been wrongly marked as dead.

“Even Rahul Gandhi met voters declared dead who were very much alive,” he said, accusing the EC of trying to weaken democracy.

He also hit out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the politics in the name of infiltrators had collapsed as the EC’s affidavit did not mention a single infiltrator, except for a reference to infiltration from Gujarat.

Tejashwi pointed to the case of the BJP’s Bihar in-charge Bhikhu Bhai Dalsania, whose name appeared in the Patna voter list despite having voted in Gandhinagar in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Tejashwi announced that from August 17, Rahul Gandhi and leaders of the Grand Alliance will launch a Voter Rights Yatra from Rohtas to tell the truth to the people.

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