A fresh political storm has broken out in Bihar after a video allegedly featuring Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi speaking about intervening during an Assembly election surfaced on social media, prompting opposition parties to revive allegations of “vote chori” against the BJP-led NDA.
The video, purportedly recorded in Gaya parliamentary constituency, has been circulated by the RJD-Congress combine as evidence of electoral manipulation. Manjhi, however, has rejected the claims outright, insisting that the clip was tampered with and misrepresented.
The controversy centres on remarks attributed to Manjhi regarding the Tikari Assembly segment. The Hindustani Awam Morcha chief can be heard referring to the 2020 Assembly election, in which his party candidate Anil Kumar won narrowly but lost the seat to the RJD in last month’s polls.
Speaking in Magahi, Manjhi is heard saying, “the candidate was trailing by 2,700 votes in the 2020 assembly polls. He called me up, and I telephoned the official concerned. Finally, he was declared the winner”.
The authenticity of the video, however, couldn't be verified by NAI.
In the same clip, Manjhi is heard contrasting the 2020 outcome with the recent defeat. “This time, the candidate lost by 1,600 votes. But instead of contacting me, he chose to concede defeat. The then DM of Gaya, who is now posted in Tripura, telephoned me to enquire what went wrong this time. I could have done nothing when the candidate chose to return home without contacting me,” he is heard as saying.
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Seizing on the remarks, the Rashtriya Janata Dal shared the video on its official X handle, calling it “the truth of the artificial popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”. The party alleged that Modi, with the Election Commission’s backing, had attempted “an unsuccessful attempt at political assassination of our young and revolutionary leader Tejashwi Yadav” during the recent elections.
The Congress echoed the attack, with Bihar spokesperson Asit Nath Tiwari alleging, “Union home minister was all fire and brimstone inside Parliament recently while reacting to allegations of vote theft. Now, the confession of his cabinet colleague suggest that what is taking place is not vote chori but vote dacoity”.
Manjhi responded sharply on social media, accusing his critics of distortion and personal targeting. “A video of mine has been tampered with and shared on social media by those who think they can defame a son of a Musahar (a Mahadalit community),” he posted. “I want to tell all such people that Manjhi has now become a brand. He is not going to be scared of anyone.”
The BJP sought to play down the controversy. Bihar minister and former state BJP president Dilip Jaiswal said, “I have seen the unedited video. Manjhi was speaking about counting of votes having been stalled for several hours in 2020, after his candidate was trailing in the penultimate round by a small margin. After counting of votes was over, the candidate was declared”.
The episode has added fuel to the opposition’s campaign narrative in Bihar, reviving contentious debates over electoral integrity even as the ruling alliance dismisses the allegations as politically motivated.
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