Tejashwi Yadav calls ECI 'rotten', RJD to burn effigies across Bihar
Synopsis
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav declared the Election Commission of India 'rotten' on 25 September 2026, announced state-wide effigy protests in Bihar, demanded cancellation of polls in five states, and accused Modi-Shah of weaponising the ECI against democracy.
Key Takeaways
Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, publicly called the Election Commission of India 'rotten' on 25 September 2026 .
The RJD announced effigy-burning protests across entire Bihar the same day.
Yadav demanded elections in Bihar and four other states be cancelled immediately.
He accused Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of converting the ECI into a tool to 'finish off democracy'.
He questioned why two Election Commissioners who had raised concerns about the body's functioning had remained silent for so long.
The protest follows the controversial 2023 Act that changed ECI appointment rules, which the opposition had already challenged as compromising the commission's independence.
The Election Commission of India has become a tool to dismantle democracy — that is the charge RJD leader and Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav levelled on Friday, 25 September 2026, as he announced his party would burn effigies of the constitutional poll body across Bihar the same day.
In a sharp Hindi post on X, Yadav declared: 'Desh ka chunav aayog sad chuka hai' ('The country's Election Commission has rotted'). He demanded that elections in Bihar and four other states be cancelled outright, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah of turning the ECI into an instrument to end democratic governance. 'Modi-Shah have made the Election Commission a tool to finish off democracy,' he wrote.
The two silent commissioners — Yadav's sharpest barb
The most pointed line in the post was a rhetorical question directed at the institution itself: why had two Election Commissioners — who had reportedly raised questions about the ECI's working methods — stayed silent for so long? Yadav did not name the commissioners, but the insinuation was clear: internal dissent within the commission had been suppressed. The specific identities of the two officials he referenced could not be independently confirmed.
The charge lands in a context long in the making. Since 2023, when Parliament passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, the opposition has argued that the new law — which added the Union Law Minister to the selection panel — compromised the commission's independence. Opposition parties had flagged similar concerns over ECI functioning during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, citing sluggish action on model-code violations.
Effigy fires from Patna to every district
The RJD's decision to burn effigies across the length of Bihar is a well-worn protest grammar in Indian politics, but its scale — sampurna Bihar, 'entire Bihar' — signals the party's intent to make this a mass-mobilisation moment ahead of the state election cycle. Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal currently anchors the INDIA bloc in the state and has been seeking to consolidate opposition sentiment on institutional autonomy as a campaign theme.
Yadav closed his post with a direct appeal to citizens: the public must now take to the streets to make the Election Commission transparent and accountable. The call is a calculated escalation — moving the argument from social-media rhetoric to street-level pressure.
A constitutional body under partisan crossfire
The ECI has not responded to the specific charges in Yadav's post. The broader pattern, though, is familiar: Indian opposition parties have periodically accused the commission of partiality toward the ruling BJP — on announcement timing, campaign-rule enforcement, and management of electoral rolls. Those accusations have arrived through parliamentary walkouts, formal complaints, and now, co-ordinated effigy protests.
What makes the current moment distinct is the combination: a sitting Opposition Leader demanding elections be nullified, an explicit call for mass street action, and unresolved questions about dissent within the commission itself. Whether the ECI or the Law Ministry responds formally will determine how far the controversy travels beyond Bihar's borders.
Democracy's referees are on notice — and the next move belongs to the institution being burned in effigy.
Point of View
Signalling the depth of opposition distrust. The reference to 'two silent commissioners' is the sharpest element: if it anchors in public consciousness, it could turn an internal procedural dispute into a full-blown narrative about suppressed dissent inside the commission. The ECI's silence will itself become a data point the opposition will exploit.
NationPress
25 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Tejashwi Yadav demand cancellation of elections in five states?
Tejashwi Yadav accused the Election Commission of India of functioning as a partisan tool of the Modi-Shah government, declaring that elections conducted under such a compromised body lack legitimacy. He did not specify all five states by name in the post.
What did Tejashwi Yadav mean by 'two election commissioners' who stayed silent?
Yadav referred to two Election Commissioners who had reportedly raised questions about the ECI's working methods but had remained publicly silent. He did not name them, and their identities could not be independently confirmed from available information.
Why is the RJD burning effigies of the Election Commission?
The RJD organised state-wide effigy-burning in Bihar on 25 September 2026 as a public protest against what the party calls the Election Commission's loss of independence and transparency under the current central government.
What is the 2023 Election Commission appointment law that the opposition objects to?
Parliament passed the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act in 2023, which added the Union Law Minister to the selection panel, reducing the Chief Justice of India's earlier role. Opposition parties argue this gives the ruling government undue influence over appointments.
Has the Election Commission responded to Tejashwi Yadav's accusations?
As of the publication of this article, neither the Election Commission of India nor the Law Ministry had issued a formal response to the charges made by Tejashwi Yadav on 25 September 2026.
