Voter ID Tejashwi flashed at press conference fake, says poll body, gives him deadline to surrender it

The official communication, dated August 8, comes in continuation of earlier correspondence dated August 3 and August 6, following Yadav’s claim that his name had been “deleted” from the electoral rolls and that his voter ID card was no longer valid. During the press conference, Yadav presented an EPIC card bearing the number RAB2916120, which he said had failed to yield any search results on the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) official portal.

However, upon verification, the ERO stated that the EPIC number in question was never issued by the Election Commission. “Matching the card with the electoral database of several years revealed that the EPIC card number RAB2916120 is not found in the records of the Election Commission,” the letter said.

The ERO further pointed out that Yadav’s valid entry in the voter list appears under “EPIC number RAB0456228”, and his name is listed at serial number 416 in Polling Station No. 204, Bihar Animal Sciences University Library Building, a change from its previous position in the same premises at Polling Station No. 171, serial number 481.

An ECI source had previously said that EPIC number RAB0456228 has been consistently associated with Tejashwi Yadav since 2015, including in the affidavit he submitted during nominations in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly elections. During the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the same number was provided by Yadav through the Booth Level Officer (BLO) in the submitted enumeration form, the official had said.

In its latest letter, the ERO wrote, “It appears that the EPIC card number RAB2916120 displayed during the August 2 press conference is fake. Creating and using forged government documents is a legal offence.”

The notice concludes with a renewed request to Yadav: “You are once again requested to deposit your apparently fake EPIC card at the Office of the Electoral Registration Officer by 5:00 PM on August 16, 2025.”

This development follows a previous letter issued by the ERO to Yadav, seeking clarification on the EPIC number he quoted during the August 2 media interaction. District officials had clarified earlier that Yadav’s name had not been deleted from the rolls but was listed under a different polling station number.

Election Commission sources said that the EPIC number linked with Yadav in the electoral rolls had remained consistent for over a decade, and an extensive review of past electoral rolls and databases found no record of the number RAB2916120.