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Voter Adhikar Yatra: Rahul Gandhi to hit the streets again, this time over Bihar ‘SIR’
The yatra will start from Sasaram on August 17, and pass through Gaya, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnia, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Pashchim Champaran, and end in Arrah on August 30.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is set to hit the roads for a 13-day yatra in Bihar against alleged vote theft and the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of the voter list carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the poll-bound state.
Announced the schedule of Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal said, “To save our vote, our Constitution, our democracy, Rahul Gandhi, former deputy chief minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav and other Mahagadbandhan leaders will embark on the Voter Adhikar Yatra across Bihar.”
“The yatra will kick off with a mega launch rally in Sasaram on August 17, going through Gaya, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnia, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Pashchim Champaran, and ending in Arrah on August 30,” Venugopal said.
The proposed ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ will be focused on the Opposition’s ongoing tirade against the ECI.
“Those who have conspired to steal our vote and destroy our hard-fought democratic system will be punished by the people. We will always fight to ensure that power stays with the ordinary people and is not snatched by those working for divisive forces, cronies, and the powerful,” Venugopal said.
Late on Thursday, the Congress will organise a ‘Save Democracy Torch Procession’ in all district headquarters across the country.
On September 1, the Opposition will hold a ‘Mega Voter Adhikar Rally’ at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan “where the whole of Bihar will send a clear message to drive away the Vote Chors (thieves)”, Venugopal said.
This will be Gandhi’s second yatra in as many years after he took out Phase 2 of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in February 2024, which saw the Congress revive its organisation, and in some parts of the country, and also translated in some electoral gains during last year’s general elections.
Among other planned events, the party will take out rallies with the theme ‘Vote Thief-Leave the Throne’ in all state headquarters from August 22 to September 7. From September 15 to October 15, a ‘signature campaign’ will be conducted across the country to protect the right to vote.
On August 7, Gandhi produced data of alleged dubious voters in Mahadevapura segment of Bangalore (Central) Lok Sabha constituency and claimed that 1,00,250 lakh “stolen” votes helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the seat in 2024, as the Wayanad MP accused the ECI of “colluding” with the BJP.
Gandhi claimed that in Mahadevapura, there were 11,965 duplicate voters, 40,009 voters with fake and invalid addresses, 10,452 bulk voters who had a single address and 4,132 voters with invalid photos.
