Patna: In a shocking incident, a woman resident of Bihar who had earlier claimed that names of her family members were missing from the draft voter list published by Election Commission of India [ECI] has now claimed that she was misled by local ward members on the alleged exclusion of her family members from the list.
Ranju Devi, a resident of Chapla village of Rohtas district had on August 18 met with Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi during the latter’s Voter Adhikar Yatra.
During her interaction with the opposition leaders, Devi had claimed that names of 6 of her family members were missing from the newly published draft voter list, emboldening the claims made by opposition leaders against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision [SIR] drive.
However, hours after claiming about exclusion of her family members, Devi on Tuesday revealed that she was mislead by the local ward secretary to make such claims before the Congress MP.
In a viral video, Ranju Devi could be heard claiming that she was misinformed by the local ward members that the names of 6 of her family members were missing from the list and she should meet and disclose this before Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav.
“Our local ward secretary took out a list and informed us that names of 6 of the family members are missing and we should go and meet Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav to get the names added in the list,” said Devi in the video.
She stressed that “we are village folk and said what we are told” while admitting that the names of all of her family members including herself is there in the newly published draft voter list.
The revelation made by Devi has stormed the social media with many including BJP leaders claiming that the incident has exposed the truth of Yatra against the voter revision drive.
बिहार के एक गांव की महिला ने दावा किया कि उसके परिवार के नाम वोटर लिस्ट से ग़ायब हैं। लेकिन बाद में उसने स्वीकार किया कि उसे राहुल गांधी से यह कहने के लिए सिखाया गया था।
“हम तो साधारण गांव के लोग हैं, जो कहा गया, वही कह दिया।”
यही है राहुल गांधी की “घुसपैठिया बचाओ यात्रा” का… pic.twitter.com/2MDBTZVM7b
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 19, 2025
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi along with leaders of Mahagathbandhan is undertaking a Voter Adhikar Yatra in the poll bound state, opposing the ECI’s SIR drive. The Yatra commenced a week after Rahul Gandhi in a presser accused the ECI for vote manipulation.
Notably, the opposition leaders since the commencement of the voter revision drive have opposed the ECI’s move, claiming that the same could lead to exclusion of voters on a large scale.
The ECI on the other hand has maintained that the drive is being conducted with transparency to overhaul the voter list and no name can be removed without a speaking order from ERO/AERO. The ECI on August 17 also countered the allegations of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, urging him to either submit an affidavit over the allegations or apologise to the nation.
The poll panel on August 1 had published the draft electoral list after completion of the first phase of the ongoing drive, providing a month window to submit claims or objections by political parties or voters. As per ECI, no claims or objection however has been filed by any political parties till August 19 morning. The ECI has announced to roll out the overhaul electoral list by September 30.
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