Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sharpened his attack on the Election Commission (EC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging a “partnership” to snatch away people’s voting rights. Addressing rallies in Nawada and Nalanda during his Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the last state Assembly polls were “stolen” and warned that once the right to vote is taken away, “ration cards and land will also be seized.”
‘Vote Is Our Last Right’: Rahul Gandhi
Speaking at Nalanda, Gandhi declared, “They will not let it happen because vote is our right and the poor in today’s India have only their right to vote left, and if your right to vote is taken away, then your ration card, your land and everything will be taken away.”
He accused the poll body of deliberately ignoring evidence of fake voters. “After an analysis the Congress found over one lakh fake voters voted in one assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat but the poll body refused to answer and asked him to give an affidavit instead,” Gandhi said, as per news agency PTI.
The Congress MP further alleged that in Bihar alone, 65 lakh names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. “We have started this yatra against ‘vote chori’ that will travel through Bihar,” he added, as the crowd responded with the slogan: “Vote thief, leave the chair.”
Rahul Gandhi Targets Modi, Shah, Election Commissioners
At Bhagat Singh Chowk in Nawada, Gandhi sharpened his attack on the Centre. “This is your right that has been given to you by the Constitution that you have fought for and Modi, Shah and election commissioners are snatching away from you,” he said.
Flanked by Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, the Congress leader accused the BJP-EC nexus of “stealing elections” in Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. “In Maharashtra, about one crore voters were added through magic between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls,” he claimed.
He warned Bihar voters that “first your voter card will go, then your ration card will go and then your land would be handed over to Adani and Ambani.” Gandhi added that laws like GST and demonetisation were designed to benefit a handful of billionaires.
Tejashwi Yadav Pitches Rahul as PM Candidate
Echoing Gandhi’s charge, Tejashwi Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, asserted that vote theft would not be allowed in the state. He said, “Whenever the Lok Sabha elections are held in future, we will make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister.”
The yatra, which entered its third day on Tuesday, began from Wazirganj in Gaya before moving through Nawada and Nalanda. It will resume from Nalanda on Thursday after a day’s halt and later cover several districts including Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnea, Darbhanga, East and West Champaran, and Siwan.
Paying homage at a statue of Bihar’s first chief minister Krishna Singh in Sheikhpura, Gandhi reiterated that the campaign—being held both on foot and by vehicle, similar to his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra—was aimed at resisting “vote chori” and combating unemployment. “We have to finish ‘Made in China’ and bring in ‘Made in India’ and ‘Made in Bihar’. We have to end unemployment,” he said, as per PTI.
