Poll Body Terms Voter Card Shown By Tejashwi Yadav ‘Fake’, Asks Him To Submit It By August 16

Last Updated:August 08, 2025, 22:00 IST

The Election Commission of India claims Tejashwi Yadav's voter ID shown at a press conference is fake, demanding its submission by August 16.

Former Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav (Credits: PTI)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday claimed that the Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shown by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav to the media during the press conference was “apparently fake" and served a notice to him to submit the voter card by August 16.

A fresh letter was issued to the Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar assembly by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate Patna (Sadar) cum Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for Digha assembly constituency in this regard.

In the notice, the ERO said that a perusal of the voters list for the past several years has led to the conclusion that the EC had never issued the voter card with the EPIC number quoted by Yadav.

“It appears that the aforementioned EPIC card is fake. Forging and using a bogus government document in the eyes of the law is a crime. You are once again requested to surrender your apparently fake EPIC card by 16/08/2025 till 5 pm," the letter read.

It further warned the former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister that creating or using forged government documents is an offence.

What’s The Row?

The poll body official’s notice came days after Yadav had alleged that his name was missing from the draft electoral rolls that were published on August 1. He claimed that his EPIC bearing the number RAB2916120 shown “no records found."

However, the claim was rejected by the District Administration in Patna and the ECI furnished the extract of the draft roll where his name was present. The poll body showed his name listed at serial number 416 of polling station number 204 — located in the Library Building of Bihar Animal Science University — with a different EPIC number, RAB0456228.

The ECI also shared Yadav’s affidavit, in which RAB0456228 was used for filing his nomination papers in the 2020 Assembly polls. He was listed with this EPIC number in the 2015 electoral roll as well.

Later, Yadav admitted that he did have the voter ID card with the EPIC number quoted by the officials, but sought to blame them for the issuance of two EPIC cards in his favour. He demanded accountability from the ECI over two voter IDs being issued to him. “If two EPIC numbers were issues, who is at fault? And they ask explanation from me," he had said.

Earlier, Patna electoral registration officer (ERO) had asked Yadav to furnish details of the EPIC card he referred to during his August 2 press conference, setting an August 8 afternoon deadline for the information to aid further investigation.

(With inputs from agencies)

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...Read More

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degree from Ben...

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August 08, 2025, 22:00 IST

News india Poll Body Terms Voter Card Shown By Tejashwi Yadav ‘Fake’, Asks Him To Submit It By August 16

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