Rahul Gandhi begins ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar: ‘SIR latest conspiracy to steal elections, will not allow this vote theft'
The Congress leader also said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in Bihar is 'their latest conspiracy to steal elections by adding and deleting votes'. He asserted that the INDIA bloc and the people of Bihar will not allow this 'vote chori (vote theft)'.
The march, modelled on Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, will travel through 23 districts and cover 50 Assembly segments across 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in various regions of Bihar. The yatra will cover a distance of over 1,300 km, with participants travelling both on foot and by vehicle.
Gandhi said, 'This fight is to save the Constitution. The RSS and the BJP are trying to destroy the Constitution in the country. In every election, they win. In Maharashtra, opinion polls had indicated that the INDIA bloc would win the elections. We won in the Lok Sabha elections there, but lost the Assembly elections.'
'We did some inquiry and found that the EC magically gave birth to one crore new voters. There was a difference of one crore voters between the Lok Sabha elections and the state elections. Where voters were added, the BJP won,' he added.
Gandhi said they filed a complaint with the EC and requested video recordings, but the EC refused the request. 'In Karnataka, we analysed Assembly segments and discovered that over one lakh votes were manipulated, which allowed the BJP to win. I have detailed information regarding this issue. The EC requested an affidavit from me; however, the BJP representatives made similar allegations without being asked for an affidavit,' he said.
He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance run a government of billionaires, and the people's money is given to a few billionaires.
'I said in Parliament in front of the PM that we want a caste census and removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation. Under pressure, they said they will do it. But they won't,' said Gandhi.
Will fight for the people: Tejashwi Yadav
Speaking at the rally, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not underestimate the people of Bihar.
'We may be poor. But we are very sharp, and we will not bow down,' said Tejashwi.
'The Constitution given to us by Dr Ambedkar gave us the right to vote irrespective of how rich or poor. But the BJP people are getting ECI to do their work. They are stealing your votes. People have been declared dead by the ECI. We sent them to the Supreme Court. This is not vote theft, but it is a robbery of votes. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and ECI should hear this… We will not let democracy be finished in Bihar… We will fight for the people,' said Tejashwi.
He said his father Lalu Prasad Yadav was at the venue against the advice of doctors treating him. 'He is here to guide us,' said Tejashwi.
Tejashwi appealed to the people of Bihar to teach a lesson to the government and elect a Mahagathbandhan government in the state.
Gandhi's march comes amid protests by the Opposition parties within Parliament and outside over the EC's SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the Bihar SIR, the Supreme Court, in its interim order on August 14, directed the EC to make available online a searchable list of about 65 lakh voter names omitted from the draft electoral rolls with reasons for their deletion.
Gandhi had also alleged that votes were stolen in last year's general elections. He gave the example of the Mahadevapura Assembly segment in Karnataka, where he claimed bogus votes were cast and that the EC helped the BJP win the elections through 'vote theft'.
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