Chirag Paswan counters Tejashwi Yadav's allegations against Bihar DyCM Vijay Kumar Sinha, slams them for lack of trust on EC

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 10 (ANI): Union Minister Chirag Paswan on Sunday countered RJD MLA Tejashwi Yadav's allegation that Bihar Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha has two EPIC numbers.
Paswan, criticising the Opposition for a lack of trust in constitutional bodies, said that they repeatedly raise issues but also raise questions when the issues are addressed.
Referring to allegations made by Tejashwi Yadav about Vijay Kumar Sinha, Paswan said when the NDA alliance had accused the RJD leader of the same, they tried to "brush" the issue under the carpet.
"When we were saying 4 days ago that you (Tejashwi Yadav) have 2 EPIC numbers, you were trying to brush it under the carpet. If any such issue has come up today, the Election Commission will look into it," Paswan said.
"The opposition repeatedly raises these kinds of issues. Rahul Gandhi held an entire program for Karnataka 2 days ago. You complain, and when the process to address it is used, you raise questions about that, too. The truth is that these people want to destroy the existence of constitutional institutions," he added.
Earlier, when Tejashwi Yadav alleged that his EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) number had been "changed", the NDA alliance accused him of holding two cards.
Today, Yadav made the same allegations against the Bihar Deputy CM. The RJD leader presented two different EPIC numbers, which he said belonged to Vijay Sinha.
"We conducted research... You can call it a revelation or a fraud; that is up to you and the people of Bihar. This voter list, which has been uploaded after the SIR (Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll), in which it is clearly visible that Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha has two EPIC numbers and his age is also different in both the places, so there is fraud in the voter card as well as in the age," he said.
Responding to the allegations, Vijay Kumar Sinha said, "Our whole family had voter IDs from Bankipur. In April 2024, I applied to add my name to the Lakhisarai constituency and remove it from Bankipur. It did not happen immediately, so I called the BLO, filled the form, and took the receipt. I have all the documents. I vote from only one place last time too, it was in Lakhisarai," he said.
Sinha added that he flagged the issue with the Election Commission after the poll body released the draft voter list, following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state. He said that the ECI has given one-month correction window, and the final voter list has not been released yet.
"One month is given for the correction. People questioning a Constitutional body do not have trust in the Constitution. They spread confusion and are a danger to democracy. Due to this correction window, I have given to the BLO in writing to remove my name. It would have been the Election Commission's mistake if it did not have a correction window. The final electoral roll has not been released. My name is under the process," he told reporters. (ANI)