Giriraj Singh accuses Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav of spreading "lies" amid row over Bihar SIR drive

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 4 (ANI): Union Textile Minister Giriraj Singh on Monday morning lashed out at former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for questioning the Election Commission (EC) amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, accusing them of spreading "lies and confusion".
He stated that EC, a constitutional body, will pursue legal action against comments made by Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar legislative assembly.
"Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav only lie and spread confusion. While lying about SIR (Special Intensive Revision), he lied about his own voter ID. This (EC) is a Constitutional institution, but they did not spare this either; they criticised it. Someone who considers himself a future CM - if Tejashwi Yadav speaks such petty lies and spreads confusion, then that institution will definitely take the legal route," Singh told reporters here.
His remarks come days after Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that his EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) number has been "changed."
He further raised concerns over his name missing from the electoral roll, questioning how he would contest the upcoming elections. Despite possessing a valid EPIC number, Yadav claimed that his name could not be traced in the voters' list, sparking allegations of irregularities in the electoral process.
"My name is not there in the electoral roll. How will I contest the elections?" he said while flashing his phone.
After Yadav claimed that his name was missing from the voter list, the Electoral Registration Officer in Patna on Sunday asked him to provide the details of the EPIC card he mentioned during his press conference, so that the matter can be thoroughly investigated.
In a press conference on Saturday, Tejashwi said his name was not included in the new draft voter list being revised in Bihar. However, officials checked the records and found his name in the list.
As this happened, Janata Dal United (JDU) slammed Yadav over allegations levelled by him against the Election Commission, and said that his and the opposition's narrative has been "destroyed".
"Tejashwi Yadav's theft has been caught. Sometimes he cries about names being removed from the voter list, and sometimes he spreads lies about the EPIC number. The truth is that now the narrative of Tejashwi and the entire opposition has been completely destroyed," the party said in a post in hindi on social media platform X. (ANI)