'Will not let EC-BJP's conspiracy to steal Bihar polls through SIR succeed': Rahul embarks on Voter Adhikar Yatra

Sasaram/Aurangabad (Bihar), Aug 17 (PTI) Embarking on a 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Sasaram, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused the Election Commission of stealing elections in collusion with the BJP and asserted that the INDIA bloc will not let their "latest conspiracy to steal" Bihar polls through SIR succeed.

Gandhi also launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission after its press conference in Delhi and said that he is not scared of EC officials.

With barely three months left for the Bihar Assembly polls, Gandhi joined his Mahagathbandhan allies in the state in a jeep driven by RJD's Tejashwi Yadav to kick-start the 1,300-km yatra and send a message that the Opposition is united in the state.

In his remarks at the yatra launch event, he alleged that assembly and Lok Sabha polls were being "stolen" across the country and there was a "conspiracy" in Bihar to do the same through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The Congress leader said while he was asked to submit an affidavit after his press conference exposing "vote chori", no such demand was made from BJP leaders who made claims in their presser.

"In the whole country, assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen and their latest conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar," Gandhi charged.

"We have come here to tell you that we will not let them steal the election in Bihar. People of Bihar will not let them steal elections. The poor only have the power of vote and we will not let them steal polls," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

He said the whole country now knows what the EC is doing and the Congress showed how it is carrying out this "theft".

"Wherever this theft is happening, be it Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, we will catch their theft and put it before the people," Gandhi said.

Waving flags of the Congress, Left parties, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), and the RJD, their supporters gathered at the launch event and chanted slogans against the EC and the BJP like "vote chor, gaddi chhor" and "Gali Gali mein shor hai Election Commission chor hai".

Later, as he wound up day one of the yatra in Aurangabad, Gandhi launched a stinging attack at the EC after its press conference in Delhi. He said the poll body is colluding with the BJP to carry out "vote chori openly" in the name of SIR and asserted that he is not scared of EC officials.

Gandhi also said while he was asked to submit an affidavit after his press conference exposing "vote chori", no such demand was made from BJP leader Anurag Thakur who made similar claims in his presser.

The former Congress president also alleged that the SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar was a way to "steal" votes of the people of the state.

He alleged that the Modi government brought in a law in 2023 to ensure that no one can take action against an election commissioners as EC is "helping" the BJP and "indulging in vote chori" along with them.

In his address at the yatra launch event, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge charged the EC with acting like an "agent" of the "dangerous" Modi government at the Centre.

Kharge alleged that the Modi government poses a "threat" to the Constitution and the people's right to vote.

The veteran leader made the remarks before the flag-off of the yatra from Sasaram, a Congress stronghold in Bihar, which the party wrested back from the BJP in last year's parliamentary polls.

He alleged that with a view to ensuring that the poll body remained pliant, the "Modi government decided to have a Union minister in the selection committee for the Election Commission, ignoring the Supreme Court's advice that the Chief Justice of India be included".

As the crowd was restless to listen to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and there was a lot of disturbance, an agitated Kharge repeatedly urged the crowd to listen to his remarks patiently or leave.

The final speech at the rally was delivered by RJD president Prasad, who had turned up despite health concerns, accompanying his son Tejashwi Yadav, who is considered the front-runner for the chief minister's post if the INDIA bloc wins the upcoming assembly polls.

Prasad spoke barely for a few minutes seated in his chair, flanked by Gandhi and Kharge.

"I urge you people to stand united, drive out the BJP-RSS combine and strengthen democracy," said the RJD supremo.

In his inimitable style, Prasad also evoked a stanza from a Bhojpuri song, sending his supporters in a frenzy.

The septuagenarian ended his speech with chants of "Rahul Gandhi zindabad, Kharge ji zindabad, Tejashwi Yadav zindabad".

Tejashwi Yadav, who has in the past few months made a slew of promises that he would fulfil upon forming a government, charged the NDA, which has been ruling the state for two decades, with running a "copycat" administration.

"For quite some time, the Nitish Kumar government has been coming up with announcements which have been copied from our promises. The latest example is the waiving of charges levied on forms for competitive exams. But I am sure that the people of Bihar can no longer trust this insincere government and they will vote for a change," said Yadav, a former deputy CM who is currently the leader of the opposition.

"B R Ambedkar gave us the 'Right to Vote' but the BJP is snatching this right of people through the EC which is working on the directions of the BJP," he alleged.

"The SIR is a conspiracy by the ruling dispensation to disenfranchise voters in Bihar... We will not allow Modi ji to cheat the people of the state," Yadav asserted.

Among other leaders who spoke on the occasion, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and VIP chief Mukesh Sahni also lashed out at the EC for "remaining unresponsive to our concerns all through but addressing a press conference on a day we have hit the streets".

CPI(M) politburo member Subhashini Ali said, "I would urge the women of Bihar to take part in the yatra in large numbers. We have learnt that among the 65 lakh people whose names have been dropped from the draft electoral rolls, women form a sizeable proportion." After 16 days, the yatra will conclude with a rally in Patna on September 1.

The yatra will be in a hybrid mode, on foot and by vehicle, as was Gandhi's Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, party leaders said.

It will pass through over 20 districts including Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnea, Araria, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra and Ara. PTI ASK PKD NAC KVK KVK