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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission, alleging that it is “stealing” elections in collaboration with the BJP and warning that the INDIA bloc would not allow the latest “conspiracy” to succeed in the forthcoming Bihar Assembly polls.

 

Launching his 1,300-km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram, Gandhi claimed the practice of manipulating electoral rolls through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists had become the new instrument for subverting democracy. “In the whole country, assembly and Lok Sabha elections are being stolen and their latest conspiracy is to delete and add voters through SIR to steal the elections in Bihar,” he said.

 

Referring to the poll body’s notice seeking an affidavit from him for his earlier “vote chori” press conference, Gandhi said no such demand had been made of BJP leaders who held a separate press meet. “They say submit an affidavit on the data I had put forward when it is their data that I cited,” he stated.

 

He further alleged that in several states, including Maharashtra, Assam and West Bengal, similar efforts were made to alter voter lists, adding that the Congress and its allies would continue to expose what he described as a nationwide “vote theft operation”. “Wherever this theft is happening, be it Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, West Bengal, we will catch their theft and put it before the people,” he said.

Also read: Congress' Voter Adhikar Yatra to begin from Sasaram

 

Gandhi also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running the government for “five or six billionaires” at the expense of the people. “Your vote is stolen and then your money is handed over to 5–6 billionaires... the truth of SIR, the vote chori in Bihar, we will put it before the people,” he added, describing the yatra as a fight to protect the Constitution.

 

Leaders of various INDIA bloc parties, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD chief Lalu Prasad and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, joined Gandhi for the yatra’s launch. The rally will cover more than 20 districts of Bihar and conclude with a public meeting in Patna on 1 September.

 

The yatra will be conducted in hybrid mode, partly on foot and partly by vehicle, similar to Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra held in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.