Bihar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed the whole country now knows that the Election Commission is “stealing” elections in collusion with the BJP and asserted that the INDIA bloc will not let their “latest conspiracy” to steal Bihar Assembly elections succeed, as he embarked on his 1,300 km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in the state.
Gandhi 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) of electoral rolls.
Addressing the gathering here at the launch event of the yatra covering over 20 districts in Bihar, Gandhi 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.
He also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi runs the government along with billionaires.
“Your vote is stolen and then your money is handed over to 5-6 billionaires…the truth of SIR, the vote chori in Bihar, we will put it before the people,” Gandhi said.
RSS, BJP trying to erase Constitution: Rahul
Gandhi alleged that the RSS and the BJP are trying to “erase” the Constitution. He asserted that it is a fight to save the Constitution.
“In every election, the BJP wins. In Maharashtra, all opinion polls said the INDIA bloc will win the assembly polls. In the Lok Sabha polls, our alliance won but after four months in the same Maharashtra, the BJP alliance swept the assembly polls as one crore voters were added through magic and wherever such additions happened, the BJP won,” he claimed.
Gandhi said the INDIA bloc parties complained to the EC and asked for video footage, but the poll body refused.
He said the Congress had shown that over one lakh votes were “stolen” in one assembly segment of a Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka in 2024, and the BJP won that parliamentary seat.
The Congress leader said the EC asked for an affidavit from him over his press conference but did not ask the BJP leaders to do so when they held their presser and made claims.
“They say submit an affidavit on the data I had put forward when it is their data that I cited,” Gandhi said.
The yatra launch event here was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, Vikassheel Insaan Party’s Mukesh Sahani, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI(M)’s Subhashini Ali and CPI’s P Sandosh Kumar.
Echoing Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged the Election Commission of India was acting like an “agent” of the “dangerous” Narendra Modi government at the Centre. “The Election Commission seems to have become an agent of the government at the Centre,” he said.
Kharge also launched a frontal attack on PM Narendra Modi, saying, “He had the temerity to claim, from the ramparts of the Red Fort at Delhi on the Independence Day, that RSS deserved credit for the country’s freedom. RSS volunteers had worked for the British imperialists, whom they informed on about activities of the real freedom fighters and sought favours, like clemency, in return.”
With the Assembly polls barely three months away, Gandhi, along with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, launched the yatra from BIADA Ground, Sasaram. 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 Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnea, Araria, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra and Ara.
(This copy has been updated with latest statements from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge during the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar)
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