Cong mulling Bihar poll boycott with RJD, oppn doing a political ‘rudali': JD(U)
The Congress on Thursday came out in strong support of boycotting the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar over the controversy surrounding the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a day after leader of opposition in the assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav hinted at the possibility.
Interacting with reporters at the state assembly, state Congress president Rajesh Kumar said the Constitution gives every citizen the right to vote but the Election Commission looks hell-bent on snatching this right.
"If the EC went ahead with its agenda, we would have no option other than launching a massive battle which could be in the form of poll boycott, fighting on the streets or even more," state Congress chief told the media on Thursday, adding: "The INDIA bloc could go to any extent over the issue."
Saying they don't have any faith left in the current Election Commission, Kumar said had the EC been led by T N Seshan or K J Rao, they could have been at ease. "But we can't trust the current poll body which has already said that 'Hamlog badal chuke hain…Pahalewale nahin hain (We have changed. We are not the same as before)," Kumar said, declaring the INDIA bloc would together launch an intensive agitation.
The Congress state chief said they would study the final voter's list before declaring their plans.
"But several electors have already complained they can't find their names in the electoral rolls at their booths, or they can't see their EPIC number. That means the INDIA bloc must be ready for any kind of agitation," Kumar added.
The month-long SIR drive will conclude on Friday. Although the main objective of the drive was an intensified revision aimed at "ensuring that the names of all eligible citizens are included in the electoral roll (ER) so as to enable them to exercise their franchise, no ineligible voter is included in the electoral rolls and also to introduce complete transparency in the process of addition or deletion of electors in the electoral rolls," this triggered massive political protests, from Patna to Delhi.
However, this not only united the opposition, but also gave an important issue ahead of the upcoming assembly elections scheduled to be held in Oct/Nov this year.
Mocking the opposition threat, JD(U) said it has become a political "rudali" nowadays. "There is a tradition of rudali in Rajasthan, where women are called to cry when someone dies. The opposition is playing a similar role," JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said.
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Mint
17 minutes ago
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Bizarre! In Bihar, dog gets residence certificate amid row over SIR; netizens ask 'where is billi mausi'
In a bizarre turn of events from Bihar's Patna district, a residence certificate was issued in the name of a dog. The certificate, processed through the government's Right to Public Services (RTPS) portal in Masaurhi, listed the applicant as 'Dog Babu' and mentioned 'Kutta Babu' and 'Kutiya Devi' as the father and mother, respectively. To make it worse, the certificate even carried a passport-sized photo of a golden retriever and bore the digital signature of the local revenue officer. The fake document was detected during the Election Commission's ongoing voter verification exercise ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls. The Patna district administration has launched a probe. In a statement, it said, 'The certificate issued in the name of 'Dog Babu' has been cancelled. An FIR is being registered against the applicant, the computer operator, and the official involved. Disciplinary action will follow.' The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Masaurhi has been asked to submit a report within 24 hours. The timing of the incident is especially concerning as the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is underway across Bihar to clean up electoral rolls. Out of 66 lakh entries verified so far, over 22 lakh were found to be deceased, 36 lakh voters had either moved away or were untraceable, and several lakh others had duplicate or incomplete entries. The 'Dog Babu' case has now cast a spotlight on the digital verification process of documents submitted through RTPS—a crucial platform citizens use for official documents, including residence certificates, which are mandatory for voter registration, education, and job quotas. The EC has said genuine electors can still be added during the claims and objections window between August 1 and September 1. As political temperatures begin to rise in poll-bound Bihar, the incident has sparked debate over governance lapses, digital verification loopholes, and the need for stricter oversight ahead of the 2025 elections. Reacting to the post, a user wrote, 'This has to be the funniest fake certificate. Dog Babu, son of Kutta Babu & Kutiya Devi officially certified as a resident of Bihar. Someone really used a government template to make a dog's residence certificate! Bureaucracy gone wild or meme of the year?' Another user wrote, 'Well, NYC is about to recognise dogs as family members. So we are keeping pace with the world.' 'This happens only in Bihar,' a user added. 'Where is billi mausi?,' the third user wrote.
