NDA won elections by stealing votes: Ex-CM

Patna: Former CM and leader of opposition in the Bihar legislative council, Rabri Devi, on Friday alleged that the NDA won elections in the state by “stealing votes”, a day after her son and leader of opposition in the state assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, raised similar allegations in the lower House of the legislature.

Rabri, who was leading opposition members protesting in the Council portico over various issues, made the remarks while responding to questions on farmers’ issues and the ruling coalition’s response. She initially criticised PM Narendra Modi for ignoring farmers’ concerns after securing their votes but quickly shifted to allegations of “vote theft”, which she claimed “sealed the fate of the opposition Grand Alliance”.




“Jeet to hua hamlog ke? Ye chori se sarkar banaya hai... chori se jeeta hai... vote chori kiya hai (It’s us who initially won elections, but they formed this govt by stealing votes... they won by stealing... they stole the votes),” Rabri Devi alleged while speaking to the media in the Council premises on Friday.

Accusing the NDA of winning elections using “Electronic Voting Machines”, the former minister said this was why the ruling coalition did not want to do away with them. She claimed the opposition had secured a majority mandate, but the govt was formed through unfair means. “We got around 1.9 crore votes, but what did they get? Not even half of that,” she asked.

“The people are watching everything. The people of Bihar understand how this govt was formed,” she said. Drawing parallels with developments in other states, she alleged that legislators in Maharashtra and Haryana were bought for Rs 50–60 crore and claimed similar practices were adopted in Bihar.

Reacting sharply, senior BJP leader and former union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said the opposition lost because the people did not want a return of Jungle Raj. “The people of the state did not want Jungle Raj-Part II. They got worried when the RJD people began moving extensively on the roads and fomenting caste tensions,” Hussain claimed. He said voters stopped the RJD to allow growth and development to continue, adding that instead of accepting defeat, the party was repeatedly blaming the CM, JD(U) and the BJP.