Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday said that since the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners have issued a joint statement confirming consensus on the poll panel’s decisions on SIR, the matter should be put to rest now.

Choudhary said that the EC has also clarified that the letter to the Cabinet Secretary was sent regarding a different issue, “so there should be no doubts in people’s minds”.

He said NDA allies had every right to raise concerns, but they should present concrete facts so that any discrepancies could be corrected.

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Speaking to reporters on the specific issue of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and questions surrounding the EC’s functioning, Choudhary said: “No one questioned the deletion of seven lakh voters during the SIR (in Bihar), and all objections raised by Congress and other political parties were addressed. The SIR process revealed that 36 lakh voters had shifted, 22 lakh had died, and seven lakh were registered in more than one place. We ended up with a final list of 7.42 crore voters. No one challenged those seven lakh deletions.”

Regarding concerns raised by allies Chirag Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha seeking clarification from the EC on the SIR, Choudhary stated: “The EC has clarified everything. They confirmed that all decisions were taken by consensus. Any political party that still has complaints should present facts… after the EC completes its process, the courts are there to review it.”

‘Rahul, Tejashwi travel in Bihar like tourists’

He said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had previously cited specific instances of discrepancies, which were addressed. “The problem with Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, is that they rarely present facts. They travel around Bihar like tourists,” he said.

Further targeting the Congress, Choudhary said: “The party that sent former Election Commissioner M S Gill to Rajya Sabha and appointed another former Election Commissioner, R K Trivedi, as Gujarat Governor has been targeting the EC. This is the same party whose Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had her election set aside by the court.”

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Choudhary said that the party, which produced three Prime Ministers from a single family — Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Rajiv Gandhi — along with a “superpower” in Sonia Gandhi, should not lecture others. “Rahul Gandhi took the position of Leader of the Opposition only because it brings power and privilege,” he said.

On CPI(M) threatening protests in Bihar and INDIA bloc planning meetings over the SIR issue, he said, “Political movements happen; they have every right to protest, but they should bring facts.”

The CM questioned how Congress won consecutive elections from 1952 to 1967 and several others afterward if systems were flawed. “We are now winning elections under PM Narendra Modi alongside our allies. Congress simply cannot digest a poor man’s son as Prime Minister,” Choudhary said.