Bihar assembly election result 2020: RJD slams CM Nitish Kumar, accuses him of tampering with counting of votes

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has alleged that the JD(U) is trying to slow down the speed of counting of votes.

Amid a bitter battle for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly between the two alliances, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday alleged that the JD(U) is trying to slow down the pace of counting of votes. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, it has also alleged that successful candidates are not being given winning certificates.

"In almost 10 seats, the Nitish administration is delaying the count. It is not giving certificates to the winning candidates. Sitting in the CM residence, Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi are pressurising the CM's Principal Secretary to call all DMs and ROs to make decisions in favour of the nearest contested seats," tweeted the RJD in Hindi.

"Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi etc. are creating strict pressure on all the District Magistrates sitting in the Chief Minister's Residential Office and are issuing instructions to stop the Grand Alliance in 105-110 seats. Under no circumstances will we allow plunder of public opinion," the party further tweeted.

"After winning 119 seats, 109 are being shown on TV. Nitish Kumar is phoning all the officers and getting them rigged. Instead of coming and congratulating for the final result, now the officials are suddenly saying that you have lost," it also tweeted.

Showing several documents, the RJD tweeted, "This is a list of 119 seats where the grand alliance candidates have won after the completion of counting. The returning officer congratulated them for the victory but is no longer giving a certificate saying that you have lost. They were also shown them as winning on the ECI website. Such loot will not work in a democracy."

"RJD candidate Shakti Singh from Hilsa assembly constituency was declared victorious by 547 votes by the Returning Officer. He was asked to wait for the certificate. RO gets a call from the CM residence. Then suddenly the officials say that you lost by 13 votes due to the cancellation of the postal ballot. The postal ballot of the RJD candidate is being cancelled forcibly from the Munger Assembly and four EVMs are not being counted," it also said.

Addressing reporters, RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha said he wants to urge Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not to disrespect the people`s mandate. "The Mahagathbandhan will emerge victoriously. The people of Bihar won`t tolerate such actions. I request the outgoing CM not to call up returning officers and put pressure on them," Jha said.

Chitranjan Gagan, the state spokesperson of the RJD, also alleged that CM Nitish Kumar was misusing his power to affect the electoral process in more than a dozen constituencies. Hence, his party is going to file complaints before the Election Commission of India. "On around 12 to 13 seats, our candidates have won the election by narrow margins of 100 to 200 votes. The CM has influenced and applied pressure on the returning officers of the respective districts for recounting and influenced the result wrongfully in favour of NDA candidates," alleged Gagan.

But the ruling JD-U has refuted all such allegations, calling them a sign of frustration. Sanjay Singh, the spokesperson of JD(U), said, "The people of Bihar have defeated the Mahagathbandhan and now its leaders are levelling false allegations against us. The NDA has contested these elections with Nitish Kumar as the CM face and he will remain the Chief Minister of Bihar."