Senior leader of Shiv Sena Sanjay Raut today (31 October) attacked the Election Commission (EC) and called the institution a branch of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reports India Today.

Commenting on EC's finding that there was no poll conduct violation in BJP's free vaccine promise, Raut asserted, "The Election Commission of India is a branch of BJP. So you cannot expect anything else from them."

Speaking about the ongoing Bihar Assembly elections, Raut alleged that the elections are not being held transparently. He said, "Everyone knows what is happening in Bihar during elections. But still, people believe that the elections will be transparent."

Raut tried to push the prospects of former Bihar chief minister (CM) Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav and said, "A young man without any support, whose family members are in jail and the CBI and IT Department is behind him, is challenging everyone in a state like Bihar. I won't be surprised if Tejashwi Yadav becomes Bihar CM tomorrow, bagging majority of votes."

Raut's assertions about elections in Bihar come at a time when the State has already gone through the first phase of voting on 30 October and is set to hold the second and third phases on 3 November and 7 November.