Tejashwi Yadav, son of Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu who was convicted in the fodder scam, held a press conference for the first time after the Bihar Assembly election results. Unhappy with the election results, he raised questions over the counting of votes, saying that the mandate of the people of Bihar was in favour of the Mahagathbandhan but the Election Commission of India declared the results in favour of the NDA. Tejashwai Yadav recalled the 2015 Bihar Assembly elections and said that back then also the people of Bihar had voted the Mahagathbandhan to power but the BJP made a backdoor entry and “hijacked” the mandate.
Describing the election results as a ‘mandate for change’, the RJD leader accused the BJP of using money, power and deception in the elections. He asked NDA’s CM face and former Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to step down in the name of “morality”. He said that his party would take out a gratitude rally because they believed Mahagathbandhan was the real winner. Giving an ultimatum to the NDA government which is yet to be sworn in, Yadav said that if the government failed to fulfill their demands like creating 19 lakh, ensuring equal pay for equal work, and improving healthcare and education till January 2021, the Mahagathbandhan would launch a mass movement.
Tejashwi Yadav cast doubts on election process
Yadav said that a video was released by the RJD showing a vehicle transporting the boxes of postal ballots late in the light in Arrah before the elections. He questioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) whether transporting postal ballot boxes in the night was allowed. He further said that there was a difference of 0.1 per cent in the vote percentage of the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan which amounted to 12,270 votes. Raising doubts over election results, he questioned how it was possible that the NDA won 15 seats more than Mahagathbandhan with a difference of 12, 270 votes only.
Yadav alleged that as many 900 postal ballots were rejected by the ECI during the counting process. “By whose permission did the Election Commission count the postal ballots in the end and reject many postal ballots?”, Yadav questioned the ECI. On behalf of Mahagathbandhan, he demanded the recounting of postal ballots both valid and rejected. He alleged foul play saying that the Mahagathbandhan lost on many seats by a thin margin of votes which according to him should not have been possible.
No evidence to support allegations
He said that he had no evidence to support his allegations as neither mobile phones nor people are allowed to enter while counting of votes is underway. He demanded the CCTV footage of the counting process to be released. While on one hand Yadav questioned losing seats by a low margin of votes, on the other hand he raised doubts on rejection of invalid postal ballots saying that elections could be lost even by a single vote.
राजद विधायक दल की बैठक में माननीय श्री तेजस्वी यादव जी को विधायक दल का नेता चुना गया। pic.twitter.com/N0saiUZI5H
— Rashtriya Janata Dal (@RJDforIndia) November 12, 2020
Yadav who has been unanimously elected as their leader by all the members of the Grand Alliance, did not deny the possibility of attempting to form a Mahagathbandhan government in the state.
