Rahul vows to protect voter rights as yatra against SIR gains traction

Time of India

6 hours ago

Patna: Congress leader
's "Voter Adhikar Yatra", launched against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, entered its third day on Tuesday with spirited participation from INDIA bloc leaders.
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The campaign drew crowds in Nawada and Sheikhpura where leaders voiced concerns over voter deletions and linked them to broader issues facing the youth and poor.
Addressing the gathering, Rahul alleged that nearly 65 lakh voters had been removed from the electoral rolls in Bihar. "The youths are facing a severe unemployment crisis, battling surging inflation and receiving inflated electricity bills even as the names of 65 lakh voters have been deleted from the voter list by the Election Commission, which is acting at the instance of the
. There is a sort of partnership between the BJP and EC to steal the votes of the poor, but the INDIA bloc won't allow even a single vote to be stolen in the state," he said.
Urging young people to join the campaign, Rahul told the Nawada crowd, "Now, this yatra will pass through the whole state and youths from Bihar will say 'vote chor, gaddi chhor'. After stealing the elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP-EC people are carrying out 'vote chori' in a new manner. They are doing this 'chori' before your eyes, but we will not let them do so."
In a new development, Ranju Devi, who had earlier appeared in a video shared by Rahul claiming that her family members' names had been deleted from the draft voter list, later said she had made the statement at the suggestion of a local panchayat secretary.
The chief electoral officer of Bihar has since requested Rahul Gandhi to share the electoral details of those featured in his video to facilitate an inquiry.
Rahul reiterated that voting rights are essential to protect welfare entitlements. "Once your name gets deleted from the voter list, you will lose everything — your ration cards, lands and so on," he alleged, warning that such actions could deprive the poor of government benefits.
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He also criticised earlier policy decisions such as GST and demonetisation, contending that these had only benefitted large industrialists.
RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav joined Rahul on the campaign trail, addressing supporters in Nawada. "We will uproot the 20-year-old rickety NDA govt this time in Bihar and when the next Lok Sabha elections are held, we will make Rahul the Prime Minister," Tejashwi said. He alleged that "jobs, education and medical facilities" were being denied to the youth and charged the BJP, "in connivance with the EC", with deleting voters' names on a large scale.
Sporting a baseball cap, t-shirt and a traditional 'gamcha', Tejashwi said he wished to embody both modernity and tradition. "We have a vision for a new Bihar," he said, adding that the state govt was "copying his ideas".