RJD delegation meets EC officials, raises concerns over poll fairness

Patna, Sep 11 (IANS) A delegation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), led by Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha and Buxar Lok Sabha MP Sudhakar Singh, met the officials of the Election Commission in Delhi to press for transparency and fairness in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.

After the meeting, RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha said the party had placed its concerns before the Election Commissioner in detail.

“We have raised issues ranging from postal ballots to claims, objections and their duration in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). We believe the Commission will take positive initiative on our concerns,” Jha said.

On the Congress’s recent statement about Tejashwi Yadav's CM face, Jha responded: “Every party has its own stand. But the people of Bihar want Tejashwi to be the CM.”

RJD has been consistently advocating for reforms in the electoral process and for strengthening the independence of the Election Commission.

Party leaders argue that a truly impartial Commission is essential for democracy to function fairly.

The meeting assumes added significance as several opposition parties have recently raised questions about the neutrality of the Election Commission.

By formally submitting its concerns, RJD is positioning itself as both a stakeholder in the INDIA bloc’s campaign and as a party seeking institutional safeguards ahead of a high-stakes Bihar Assembly election.

After the first phase of the SIR of electoral rolls, the Election Commission (EC) has removed over 65 lakh names from Bihar’s voter list.

The Commission said these deletions were due to duplicate entries, migration, or deaths of voters.

However, the large-scale removal has triggered sharp reactions from the opposition parties, including the RJD, Congress, Left parties, and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

Leaders alleged that genuine voters might also have been arbitrarily struck off the rolls, which could affect the fairness of the upcoming Assembly elections.

The matter reached the Supreme Court, which directed the Election Commission to publish the names of all those whose entries were deleted.

The court observed that transparency was necessary to ensure that eligible voters are not disenfranchised.

--IANS

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