BIHAR DEPUTY CM'S OLD ELECTION AFFIDAVITS RAISE SEVERAL QUESTIONS

He may have denied the charges levelled against him by Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor, but Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary had once himself admitted in his election affidavit that he was an accused in the alleged mass murder of Tarapur that took place in the year 1995.

- SHIKHA SALARIA

Further, his old election affidavits in possession with The Sunday Guardian show that Choudhary had himself admitted before the Election Commission that he was a “7th pass.” Moreover, while he may have been 28 years old in the year 2010, Choudhary turned 56 in the year 2025 according to his affidavits.

Choudhary—who has been in the eye of the storm ever since Jan Suraaj leader Prashant Kishor levelled serious allegations against him of hiding criminal cases lodged against him in his election affidavit and also forging a marksheet for escaping imprisonment in a mass-murder case—has shared allegedly conflicting information in different election affidavits filed by him before the Election Commission over the years, an analysis of his affidavits shows.

Kishor had alleged that Chaudhary had faced a probe as a suspect in the sensational Shilpi Jain-Gautam Singh rape and murder case and had also faked a marksheet for escaping imprisonment in a mass murder case of 1995. While Choudhary had said that it was another Rakesh who was a suspect in the rape-murder case, the Tarapur case was mentioned in the affidavit filed by him before the ECI in the year 2005.

However, those associated with him claim that all the charges hurled against him by Prashant Kishor are politically motivated and fabricated.

AGE DISPARITY

Choudhary had fought his first two elections in the year 2000 and 2005 on an RJD ticket from Parbatta constituency under the name “Rakesh Kumar.”

In the election affidavit filed by Choudhary in January 2005, Choudhary had mentioned the Tarapur cases in the list of three cases that were lodged against him back then, in which he faced serious allegations that could lead to two or over two years of imprisonment.

The affidavit had stated that the case was "disposed" of, without mentioning whether he was convicted or acquitted of the charges.