Top leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Friday met with around 30 party candidates who lost by narrow margins and assured them that the party would pose a legal challenge against the election results in various districts. electoral votes of the assembly.
The meeting lasted over four hours during which the RJD nominees shared their experience at the counting centers, with some claiming they lost due to manipulation by election officials.
Shakti Singh Yadav, former RJD legal justice player from Hilsa in Nalanda, said he would file a court petition in Patna High Court challenging the voting results of his loss to Prem Mukhiya of JD (U), who won by a margin. out of 12 votes.
“I will take a legal recourse and submit a request in writing. I was in the lead and then the trends reversed after the postal ballots were counted. Everything is very suspicious and it seems that there was a conspiracy to defeat me, ”he said.
In addition, he claimed that a large number of postal ballots, including votes cast by teachers in his constituency who participated in the polls, were rejected on the grounds that many of these ballots did not have letters of verification from voters. “It was not my job to ensure that the postal ballot carried the necessary documents to verify identity as a voter. This is again a gray area, ”he said.
But Bihar’s electoral director HR Srinivasa insisted that all regulations were followed at the counting centers. In the context of the Hilsa constituency, Srinivasa said that all postal ballots, including rejected ones, were counted at the request of the RJD candidate.
“According to EC directives, if the margin of victory is less than that of the postal ballots, then the invalid postal ballots are re-verified. In Hilsa, the Regulator stepped forward and counted all postal ballots, including invalid votes, in the presence of the candidates. The results were the same, ”he said.
Srinivasa said he had already published the list of 11 electoral districts where the margin of victory was less than 1,000 votes on postal ballots on Thursday. Of the 11 constituencies, JD (U) won four seats, RJD won three seats, LJP one seat, BJP one seat, CPI one seat and one seat was won by an independent candidate.
“In these 11 electoral districts, different parties have won, including an independent one. The election was carried out freely, fairly and transparently, ”he said. The 11 seats include Hilsa, Barbigha, Ramgarh, Matihani, Bhorey, Dehri, Bachhwara, Chakai, Kurhani, Bakhri, and Parbattta.
In addition, the CEO said that the rules established for classifying postal ballots as valid and invalid were strictly followed during the counting process.
Regarding the RJD’s demand to search for CDs of video recordings from the counting centers, Srinivasa said that the videography CDs made within the counting centers will be given to whoever requests it. “We will provide the CDs against the deposition of the required fee. Everything is there, ”he said.
The Electoral Commission has also clarified that the scrutiny process was slow due to the increase in polling stations due to Covid-19 security guidelines.
Meanwhile, RJD state spokesman Mritunjay Tiwary said the party was looking for legal options to challenge poll results in several constituencies where the margin of victory was abysmally low.
“Consultations are being held with various allies of the grand alliance and legal experts are also being contacted for an opinion on the options to change the court,” he said.
On Thursday, Tejashwi had alleged that irregularities in the counting process led the Grand Alliance to lose 20 seats that prevented it from reaching the majority figure of 122. The Grand Alliance ended with 110 seats compared to 125 for the NDA.
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