BY SANJEEB KUMAR SAHOO
Before I say anything about the current Chief Election Commissioner of India (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, and the other two Election Commissioners (ECs), Dr Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi, who remained silent while the BJP-JDU alliance led by the Nitish Kumar government transferred Rs10000 to each of the 1.51 crore women voters’ accounts in the middle of the Bihar Assembly polls, first I would like to say that the Congress party must explain why it sent ex-CEC Manohar Singh Gill to Rajya Sabha twice and appointed him Sports Minister.
Let’s get to the point: So, according to a PIB press release dated September 25, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar jointly launched Bihar’s Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana on September 26 at 11 a.m. via video conference. During the programme, the Prime Minister and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred Rs. 10,000 each into the bank accounts of 75 lakh women across Bihar, totalling Rs. 7,500 crore, and after that, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister officially ended the event, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for Bihar Assembly elections at 4pm.
And I am not saying that everything went as planned on October 6, because BJP top leaders have always worked according to plan, using the best strategies and discipline.
Following the announcement of the Bihar Assembly poll dates, the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect immediately, just moments after the poll dates were revealed on October 6 at 4:30 PM. The MCC went into effect right away, but after a few days, Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sent Rs 10000 to more than 76 lakh respected women during the election and especially during the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) implementations, which raised concerns about a potential violation of the MCC during the election period.
I believe that in line with the strategically organised 2025 Bihar Assembly Polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have transferred Rs 10,000 to each of the 1.51 crore women’s bank accounts—75 lakh women received it prior to the four-hour announcement of the poll dates, while the remaining 76 lakh women were given the amount a few days after the announcement of the Bihar Assembly poll date, both before and during the polls.
The transfer of funds to women was not executed all at once; instead, the Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar governments transferred Rs 10000 to each of the 1.51 crore women’s bank accounts on various dates during the Bihar Assembly elections in five instalments. This strategy was designed to embed the Rs 10000 in the minds of voters and ensure that the scheme remained a prominent topic of discussion among the electorate.
During the polls, the strategies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were effectively executed, resulting in significant victories for the BJP and JDU in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly Polls. However, I believe the Rs 10000 scheme fell under the category of bribery during the elections.
And I strongly believe that now is the right time for the CEC to change the system and make new rules to make sure that no freebie schemes are announced or allowed before the 120-day schedule for any Indian election, like general elections or assembly polls. If the CEC doesn’t act quickly, candidates from any new political party or honest independents won’t be able to win any elections in the future.
Because, in the past and before polls, many states implemented freebie schemes, such as Bihar, where the state government transferred Rs 10000 to each of the 75 lakh women’s bank accounts four hours before poll dates were announced and then transferred Rs 10000 to each of the 76 lakh women’s bank accounts in the middle of the polls in five instalments, and as a result of the freebies, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) alliance under the leadership of Nitish Kumar won the elections there.
In the past, ruling parties won polls in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Haryana under women’s cash transfer schemes just like Bihar did for women (Bihar’s Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana). Maharashtra’s “Mukhyamantri – Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana”, Madhya Pradesh’s “Mukhyamantri Ladli Behna Yojana”, Haryana’s “Lado Lakshmi Yojana”, and Jharkhand’s “Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana”).
And I believe that in order to win elections, the governments of West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand may introduce women’s cash transfer schemes. So, if I or anyone else wants to run in future elections, we will be unable to win any polls because of the free schemes.
Let me reiterate what I mentioned earlier: following the announcement of the Bihar Assembly poll dates and the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred Rs 10,000 to each of the 75 women’s bank accounts of 76 lakh esteemed women during the election period, particularly when the MCC was in effect.
Let me reiterate what I mentioned earlier: following the announcement of the Bihar Assembly poll dates and the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred Rs 10,000 to over 76 lakh esteemed women during the election period, particularly when the MCC was in effect.
Interestingly, Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar transferred Rs 10,000 to each of the 75 women’s bank accounts just four hours before the announcement of poll dates on October 6 at 11 am.
I have some questions for the CEC and the other two EC members: First, why did the CEC and the other two members allow the transfer of Rs 10,000 to each of the 1.51 crore women during the elections, even though the women’s cash transfer scheme was announced 4 hours before the elections? Second, if the scheme had been announced 4 hours before the elections, the CEC would not have asked the administrators to transfer Rs 10,000 to each of the remaining 76 lakh women’s bank accounts after the elections.
Third, even a beetle shop employee could say that the scheme was announced just four hours before the elections to influence polls and voters in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly elections.
Believe me, the BJP-JDU alliance succeeded in their plans during the polls, as the NDA achieved a landslide victory in the recently concluded Bihar Assembly Polls. In the recently ended Bihar assembly elections, the JD(U)-BJP-led alliance secured a record majority with 202 seats in the 243-member house. The opposition was reduced to only 35 seats, while the BJP secured 89, JD(U) 85, LJP(RV) 19, HAM 5, and RLM 4.
A lot of people, including myself, are doubting and talking about the trustworthiness of CEC and the other two ECs, but they can’t say anything. But I can say.
The CEC and its two members failed to provide a level playing field for other political parties such as Congress, RJD, Jan Suraaj, VIP, CPIM, and CPM. They allowed the Bihar government to transfer Rs 10,000 to each of the remaining 76 lakh women’s bank accounts after the election dates were announced. It is important to note that once election dates are announced, the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately.
During the Model Code of Conduct, any political party in power during elections is prohibited from implementing any schemes that could be seen as enticing voters, which would fall under the category of bribery.
However, the CEC and the other two members failed to act when they had the opportunity to order the Bihar administration that the remaining 76 lakh women could receive Rs 10,000 each in their bank accounts post-elections, regardless of which government is in power.
And the CEC and the other two ECs could have made a decision and ordered the Bihar administration that the remaining 76 lakh women would receive Rs 10,000 each in their bank accounts following the elections under Bihar’s Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, which was approved by the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar in January 2024.
This is because the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar has passed a proposal to give Rs 2 lakh to each of more than 94 lakh families who were identified through a caste survey. But launch the scheme just 4 hours before the date of Bihar Assembly polls announcement.
As part of levelling the playing field for all political parties, CEC and the other two EC members could have ordered the Bihar administration, as CEC and ECs are real bosses during MCC in the general election and assembly polls, and in their order, they could have said that the other 76 lakh women will get Rs 10000 (Rs 10000 per woman) in their bank accounts after the polls, when 75 lakh women already had received Rs 10000 each in their bank accounts four hours before the date of the announcement of the Bihar assembly polls.
The report says that between October 6 and November 11, a total of 1.51 crore women got Rs 10,000 (Rs 10,000 for each woman) in their bank accounts. Since the BJP-JDU alliance led by the Nitish Kumar government waited 20 months to execute the scheme. On the other hand, if women could have waited for 20 months, then I believe 76 lakh women could have waited a few more days for their Rs 10,000 each in their bank accounts.
But I believe that the CEC and the other two EC members did not do their duties honestly.
So, I believe NDA politicians received 1.51 crore votes from women who received Rs 10000 each in their bank accounts, as well as many members of women’s households, because husbands always listen to their wives. So 1.51 crore woman voters plus 1.51 crore voters from their relatives equals 3.2 crore.
Even during the polls for those social media posts, with BJP’s top leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and JDU’s boss and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s names and their pictures printed on the image, JDU stated on its official X or Twitter account on November 9, 2025, that in the printed image, 1.51 crore women have received Rs 10000 each in their bank accounts in five instalments, they will receive it again, there is no need to return Rs 10000 and even no need to pay any interest on Rs 10000, and they also promised to give Rs 2 lakh support to those women if their business succeeds.
And I would like to conclude by saying that whenever Bihar holds elections in the future, people will always mention the current CEC and the other two election commissioners’ names for not providing a level playing field to opposition political parties, and I know which bureaucrats work for which political party’s top politicians, despite receiving salaries and other benefits from Indian taxpayers.
