Bihar Assembly Elections: Amid Rahul Gandhi’s Claims of Vote Theft, Controversy Over VVPAT Slips Found Scattered on Road in Bihar.
SNPNEWS.IN News (Gurmail Kamboj): The voting for the first phase of 121 constituencies in the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025 was held on November 6, after which the voting machines are being safeguarded under the supervision of security personnel by officials designated by the Election Commission.Meanwhile, on November 8, thousands of VVPAT (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail) slips were found openly scattered on the road near KSR College in Sheetalpatti village (Sarairanjan Assembly constituency) of Samastipur district. The slips had party symbols and voter names printed on them, which passersby started collecting. A video of this went viral on social media, putting the election process under scrutiny.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) took immediate action in the matter. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said that these slips are not related to actual voting but were used for mock polls (for machine testing). This has no impact on the integrity of the election process.
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District Magistrate (DM) Roshan Kushwaha reached the spot, ordered an inquiry, and suspended Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) Arvind Kumar Sahni and Sajan Kumar Mishra. The DM filed an FIR against the concerned officials for negligence and informed all party candidates about the incident.
The Election Commission clarified that this is a mistake in handling mock poll slips and has no connection with actual votes. However, opposition parties are considering it part of rigging by the NDA (BJP-JDU).
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RJD tweeted: “VVPAT slips coming out of EVMs were found thrown on the road in Sarairanjan, Samastipur. When, how, why, and on whose instructions? Will the thief Election Commission answer?” They linked it to “vote theft” and “dacoits of democracy.”
Congress also termed it a sign of rigging in the election process. Earlier, there was controversy over the removal of 6.8 million names from the voter list through the SIR process, which the opposition called targeting specific communities.