‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ resumes in Bihar

Sheikhpura: The ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar resumed on Thursday after a day-long break, with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accusing the Nitish Kumar government of “lacking vision” and “merely copying his ideas” for development.

Yadav also said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be back from Delhi in the afternoon to join the yatra.

The RJD leader was joined by CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Congress president Rajesh Kumar and Vikassheel Insan Party chief Mukesh Sahni, among others, when the yatra resumed in Sheikhpura district.

“We are grateful to big brother (bade bhai) Rahul Gandhi for having devoted so much of his time to this yatra. He has some pressing engagements relating to the vice president’s election. He will be joining us in the afternoon”, said Yadav.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had flagged off the yatra at Sasaram on Sunday in the presence of leaders like AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad.

Yadav also charged the Nitish Kumar government in the state with “lacking vision” and “merely copying the ideas of Tejashwi, presenting as its own initiatives all that the RJD had promised, be it domicile, waiver of fees on competitive exams’ forms or setting up of a Youth Commission”.

He also claimed, “The tired (NDA) government in the state will be thrown out in the coming assembly polls. Bihar wants an original CM, not a duplicate one. We will form the government, and we have a vision for the state”.

The RJD leader also claimed that the party was the “first to demand introduction of domicile policy, promise free electricity, social security pension for widows, elderly and disabled persons, and several ideas for Bihar’s overall development”.

“If we form a government, we will provide employment to youths, better health infrastructure in the state and will take measures to check migration from Bihar,” Yadav said.

The leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly and the INDIA bloc’s de facto chief ministerial candidate, alleged that people’s votes were being “stolen” in the name of special intensive revision of electoral rolls and made the crowds chant the slogan “Vote chor, gaddi chhod”.

He claimed, “The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar was an exercise to snatch people’s right to vote. It’s a conspiracy of the ruling dispensation to disenfranchise voters in the state.”