Congress leader and Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi kicked off his 16-day “Voter Adhikar Yatra” from Bihar’s Sasaram around 3 pm on Sunday. Rajya Sabha LoP and Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav joined the Congress MP, waving the tricolour ahead of the yatra’s commencement.
The voter rights march comes amid Opposition parties’ protests in Parliament over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of the voter list in the state. At the launch, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over SIR. He alleged that the entire country’s Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen.
He said, “I am telling you from this stage that Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen in the entire country. Their latest conspiracy is to conduct SIR in Bihar and steal the Bihar elections as well. All of us have come to this stage to tell you that we will not let them steal this election.”
Earlier on Saturday, Gandhi shared details of his Voter Adhikar Yatra in a post on the social media platform X. He wrote, “16 days. 20 districts. 1,300 kms. We are coming among the people with the Voter Rights Yatra.”
While hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR on Thursday, the Supreme Court, in its interim order, directed the Election Commission of India to publish details of approximately 65 lakh voters who were omitted from the January 2025 electoral roll.
The voter rights march is being modelled on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. It kicked off from Sasaram, which falls in the Shahabad bastion. It will pass through the Mahagathbandhan’s strongholds in the Magadh, Mithila, Tirhut Ang, Seemanchal, and Saran regions, and will conclude at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on September 1.
Election Commission Press Conference
The Election Commission (EC) held a press conference at 3 pm on Sunday amid alleged “vote theft” allegations by the Opposition concerning the special intensive electoral roll revision in Bihar.
