Jharkhand CM, TMC's Yusuf Pathan to join concluding leg of 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Patna

Ranchi/Kolkata, Sep 1 (PTI) Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and TMC leaders Yusuf Pathan and Lalitesh Tripathi will join the concluding leg of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar's capital Patna on Monday.

While Pathan and Tripathi have already reached Patna, Soren will reach there on Monday morning.

"JMM president and Chief Minister Hemant Soren will join Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav, at the concluding leg of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'. This historic occasion will transform into a show of strength for the opposition unity," JMM central general secretary Vinod Pandey said in a press statement.

'Mahagathbandhan' leaders will hold a march in Patna on Monday, marking the culmination of the yatra that covered about 1,300 km and passed through over 110 Bihar assembly constituencies in what was seen as a prelude to a high-octane assembly polls campaign in the state.

"The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a joint conspiracy of the BJP and the Election Commission to deprive voters, especially the poor, backwards, minorities, Dalits, labourers, farmers, and tribal communities, from exercising their franchise against the BJP's ideology," Pandey alleged.

The JMM leader said that the ruling coalition government in Jharkhand has already passed a resolution in the assembly against the SIR, conveying its message to the people.

"Hemant Soren called it a direct attack on democracy. In Bihar, the opposition has also termed the SIR as a conspiracy to marginalise poor people," he claimed.

Tripathi, before leaving for Patna on Sunday, told reporters at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, "We will represent TMC at the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'. 'Vote chori' (stealing of votes) is one of the biggest issues at the moment, and we are going to take it to every region. We will take the message of our leader Mamata Banerjee to the common people. This is our responsibility." Pathan, a former Indian cricketer, echoed Tripathi.

Both the Congress and the TMC are part of the opposition bloc INDIA at the national level.

The yatra, launched by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on August 17, aimed to highlight the alleged assault on people's right to vote through the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The opposition parties have been alleging that the deletion of names of 65 lakh people from the draft electoral rolls published as part of SIR was an "assault" on their right to vote.

The Election Commission (EC) had come out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls.

The development came after the Supreme Court directed the EC to publish the deleted names by August 19 and file a compliance report by August 22. PTI SCH SAN BDC ACD