• Source:JND
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Bihar Election 2025: Bihar BJP Chief Dilip Jaiswal sparked a political controversy as he sought the verification of burqa-clad voters on polling booths in the upcoming assembly election. The BJP chief raised this demand during a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday. The RJD slammed the demandas divisive and accused the BJP of promoting “politics of hatred”, while BJP’s ally JD(U) distanced itself from Jaiswal’s remarks.

Representatives of all political parties met CEC Gyanesh Kumar on Saturday, October 4, to share their inputs for the upcoming assembly polls, which is scheduled to take place towards the end of the month. 

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What Did The BJP Chief Say?

Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal on Saturday urged the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming assembly polls in one or two phases and ensure that faces of women turning up at booths in burqas were tallied with voter cards.

Jaiswal, who headed a BJP delegation, in discussions with the visiting Election Commission team, called for a strong paramilitary presence in areas considered sensitive to booth capturing and voter coercion. "We have urged the EC to conduct the elections in one or two phases. The election process need not be staggered. Also, tallying of faces of voters, especially burqa-clad women, must be ensured with respective EPIC cards so that only genuine voters get to exercise their franchise," he told reporters after the meeting.

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Reactions From RJD And JDU

Jaiswal’s “burqa” remark has attracted strong reactions from the main opposition party of the state, RJD. Abhay Kushwaha, RJD MP, who was part of the delegation that met the Chief Election Commissioner, said, "This is a political conspiracy. The Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls has just been carried out. New EPIC cards are to be issued to all voters with fresh photographs. Identification of voters is no big deal. But the BJP wants to push its own agenda.”

Meanwhile, JDU MP Khalid Anwar also expressed his displeasure with the entire situation. "The poll body must reply to this. Our leader, Nitish Kumar, does not endorse such politics. He has always worked for the rights of women," he said. 

A similar incident had surfaced last year in Hyderabad, where BJP candidate K Madhavi Lata asked the burqa clad voters to reveal their faces for verification.