Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of trampling democracy in the country. Sharing a news clip of EVM recounting under the Supreme Court’s watch, Tejashwi reminded people of the Chandigarh Mayoral polls fraud. 

Tejashwi Questions EVM

Taking to X, Tejashwi Yadav said that in a panchayat election in Haryana, a candidate was forcibly defeated in the EVM counting at one booth. “The defeated candidate approached the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court, the EVM counting of all booths was conducted with videography. The defeated candidate won, but for three years of his term, someone else remained a fake sarpanch due to the EVMs. This is the state of EVMs at one booth. In the Chandigarh mayoral election, how the BJP rigged the process to make itself win, which was later rejected by the court, is known to all,” said the RJD leader.

Tejashwi Yadav also questioned the recent change in the rule where the Election Commission is allowed to delete the polling video after 45 days. “After that, the BJP government changed the rules for keeping video recordings. Now, the Election Commission will not provide you with the counting video after 45 days. When the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, destroys the evidence, what proof will you present in court? These people are against democracy, which is why these two individuals do not want transparency in democracy,” questioned Yadav.

The RJD leader further said that Bihar is the birthplace of democracy and no matter what happens, the party cannot let the Constitution and democracy be crushed under the boots of Modi-Shah. 

The EVM Recounting Case

The EVM recounting case pertains to the Haryana Sarpanch election, where the losing candidate challenged the result before the Supreme Court. The top court got the EVMs and other polling records of the gram panchayat of Buana Lakhu village, Panipat, Haryana, for recounting. Supreme Court OSD (Registrar) Kaveri carried out the recount in the presence of both parties and their lawyers, with the entire process recorded on video. The recount ultimately overturned the original result.

The dispute arose from the November 2, 2022, Sarpanch election, where Kuldeep Singh was declared the winner, defeating his opponent, Mohit Kumar. Challenging the result, Kumar first took the matter to the Election Tribunal in Panipat, which ordered a recount of the votes. That decision, however, was overturned by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on July 1, 2025. Unhappy with the high court’s ruling, Kumar then approached the Supreme Court for relief. During the recounting of booths in questions, Kumar got 51 votes more than Singh. The SC then declared him a winner, quashing election of Singh.