Waging direct fight against 'vote chori' from Bihar's soil: Rahul on Yatra
New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said "we are waging a direct fight against vote chori" from the soil of Bihar with the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', and asserted that his party will ensure a clean voters' list across the country. Gandhi said "vote chori" is not just an election issue but a "decisive battle" to protect democracy, the Constitution and the principle of 'one man, one vote'. In a post on X, Gandhi said, "From 17th August, with 'Voter Adhikar Yatra, we are waging a direct fight against vote theft from the soil of Bihar."
"This is not just an election issue - it is a decisive battle to protect democracy, the Constitution and the principle of 'one man, one vote'," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said. "We will ensure a clean voter list across the country. Youth, workers, farmers - every citizen, rise up and join this mass movement," he said. "This time, the defeat of vote thieves - victory of the people, victory of the Constitution," Gandhi added. The former Congress president also shared a video montage on the yatra that also featured visuals from his previous Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that had passed through Bihar as well. Gandhi along with INDIA bloc leaders in Bihar will embark on a 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' across the state starting August 17 against the revision of electoral rolls and to make the "battle against vote chori" a mass movement, the party had said on Wednesday. The yatra will culminate on September 1 with a rally at Patna's Gandhi Maidan. The Congress on Tuesday had claimed that "vote chori" was a "do-or-die" issue for it, and announced a roadmap to take its allegations to the people through various activities, including 'Loktantra bachao mashaal marches' on August 14 evening.
The assertion was made after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge held a meeting with party general secretaries, in-charges and heads of its frontal organisations. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Congress leader and AICC in-charge of National Students' Union of India (NSUI) Kanhaiya Kumar had said that going forward, the Congress will take this to the people with three important programmes. On August 14, the eve of Independence Day, there will be a 'Loktantra bachao mashaal march' at all district headquarters, Kumar said, adding that between August 22 and September 7, the Congress will hold "vote chor, gaddi chhorh (vote thieves, relinquish power)" rallies in all state headquarters. "Between September 15 and October 15, a signature campaign will be run to save the right to vote and ensure people's participation," he had said, while asserting that the whole INDIA bloc is together on this. Last Thursday, Gandhi cited data from the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to claim that more than 1 lakh votes were "stolen" through five types of manipulation in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment of Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka. The opposition has been also protesting in both Houses of Parliament against the revision of electoral rolls, alleging that the EC's exercise is aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. They have been demanding a discussion on the issue in both Houses.
