JD(U) MP who flayed EC’s ‘Tughlaqi farmaan’, got notice, won his seat hailing Modi leadership
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
JD(U) MP who flayed EC’s ‘Tughlaqi farmaan’, got notice, won his seat hailing Modi leadership
Giridhari Yadav criticised the EC’s electoral roll revision drive as a “Tughlaqi farmaan (unrealistic order)” He said the poll panel seemed to be unaware of the ground realities. Yadav said it had taken him 10 days to get his own documents together for the exercise. JD(U) national general secretary Aafaque Ahmad Khan sent a show-cause notice to Yadav, demanding a reply within 15 days and warning him of disciplinary action otherwise. “Your public comments on such a sensitive matter, especially in an election year, not only cause embarrassment to the party but also inadvertently lend credibility to the baseless and politically motivated allegations made by the Opposition,” Khan said. ‘We have serious doubts about the EC data regarding people who have ‘permanently shifted’ or are ‘dead’’, said RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta. The EC said 21.6 lakh electors across the state were reported to be deceased, 31.5 lakh to have permanently migrated, and 7 lakh registered at one place.
A low-key leader, despite his four terms as Banka MP, 64-year-old Yadav is not really used to controversy. The last time he was in the news was two years ago, when he wrote to the Lok Sabha Secretary General seeking that he be allowed to submit written questions on paper, rather than online. He was not computer savvy, leaving him dependent on his staff or family members to ask questions on his behalf, which posed the risk of breach of secrecy, Yadav said.
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On Wednesday, Yadav criticised the EC’s electoral roll revision drive, just ahead of Assembly elections in Bihar, as a “Tughlaqi farmaan (unrealistic order)”, and said the poll panel seemed to be unaware of the ground realities. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said it had taken him 10 days to get his own documents together for the exercise. “Any government or constitutional authority is there to make life easier for people, not to complicate it further. It has been a year since the Lok Sabha polls. What was the EC doing till now?” Yadav said.
While the ruling JD(U) and its allies have supported the EC drive officially, behind the scenes there is a growing concern about the impact on voters, given the short timeline within which the exercise is being carried out.
On Thursday, JD(U) national general secretary Aafaque Ahmad Khan sent a show-cause notice to Yadav, demanding a reply within 15 days and warning him of disciplinary action otherwise. The notice said: “You are aware that certain opposition parties, frustrated by their electoral outcomes, have been running a sustained campaign to discredit the Hon’ble ECI, particularly on the issue of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), with the sole objective of creating public doubt over the functioning of a constitutional body. Our party, the Janata Dal (United), has consistently supported the Hon’ble ECI and the use of EVMs, both during our time in the I.N.D.I.A. alliance and now as part of the NDA alliance… In this context, your public comments on such a sensitive matter, especially in an election year, not only cause embarrassment to the party but also inadvertently lend credibility to the baseless and politically motivated allegations made by the Opposition.”
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A senior JD(U) leader said the notice to Yadav sent the right message: “It speaks volumes about our support to the SIR. Every party leader has to be disciplined.”
Asked about their ally MP’s remarks, BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said Yadav may not be suitably informed. “Since Giridhari Yadav has been busy attending the ongoing Parliament Session, he is not conversant with what has been happening on the ground on the SIR front.”
RJD national spokesperson Subodh Kumar Mehta welcomed Yadav’s remarks. “At least Giridhari Yadav had the courage to speak the truth. We have serious doubts about the EC data regarding people who have ‘permanently shifted’ or are ‘dead’.”
On the show-cause notice to Yadav, Mehta said it showed “the NDA’s character”.
As per the data shared by the EC for the state on Thursday, “99%” of the total 7.89 crore registered electors of Bihar had been “covered” in the SIR, with less than 7 lakh forms yet to be received ahead of Friday’s deadline to submit forms. The EC has not shared district-wise data.
The EC said 21.6 lakh electors across the state were reported to be deceased, 31.5 lakh to have permanently migrated, and 7 lakh registered at more than one place.
Giridhari Yadav started his electoral innings in 1995, winning the Katoria Assembly seat in Banka as a Janata Dal nominee. In 1996, he jumped into the Lok Sabha poll fray, and won from the Banka seat.
After Lalu Prasad formed the RJD in 1997, Yadav contested from the Katoria Assembly seat again, and won on its ticket in 2000. In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, he switched back to the Lok Sabha and won from Banka on the RJD ticket.
By 2010, Yadav switched sides to the JD(U), though that didn’t affect his poll chances. He won from the Belhar Assembly seat in Banka this time, and retained it in the 2015 state elections.
Come 2019, it was back to the Lok Sabha for Yadav, and he won Banka that year, as well as in 2024.
Despite his string of poll wins, Yadav, who declared assets worth Rs 1.72 crore in his 2024 poll affidavit, is not seen as a very popular grassroots leader. However, the social arithmetic of the area works for him. Banka has a mixed population of OBCs, EBCs and Dalits, along with a sizeable chunk of upper castes.
A leader from Banka said: “In the 2019 and 2024 polls, he used the Narendra Modi factor, even though he belongs to the JD(U). He openly sought votes in the name of Modi’s leadership.”