On Last Day of Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi Likens 'Vote Chori' to Theft of Basic Rights

Patna: On the last day of the Voter Adhikar Yatra (Voter Rights March) in Bihar, Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi likened vote theft to the theft of basic rights.

“I want to tell the youth of Bihar that vote theft means theft of rights, theft of employment, theft of education, theft of democracy and theft of the future of the youth. They will take away your land and ration and give it to Ambani and Adani,” said Gandhi at the Dak Bangla crossing in Patna on Monday (September 1) where top leaders from all the parties of Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance had a brief address before the culmination of the Yatra.

The 16-day long Yatra (Voter Rights March) in Bihar led by Gandhi concluded on Monday with a small public meeting and garlanding of the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar in Patna.

The Yatra had reached Gandhi Maidan on Sunday (August 31). On Monday, the march started by garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi Maidan. Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and Trinamool Congress MP Yousuf Pathan had landed in Patna from Jharkhand and West Bengal, respectively, to participate in the Yatra.

'They are killing the Constitution'

“They are killing the Constitution, we will not let them do this. We travelled here and got a tremendous response. All the youth stood up. Small children came near the jeep and said Vote Chor Gaddi Chhor (vote thief leave the throne),” said Gandhi during his address.

Top leaders of Mahagathbandhan including Tejashwi Yadav, Dipankar Bhattacharya and Mukesh Sahani were present on the occasion. They had continuously travelled with Rahul Gandhi during the course of the Yatra.

Hundreds of posters about the Yatra were pasted near all the major landmarks of Patna by supporters of Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) – Liberation (CPI-ML Liberation) and other alliance partners.

Earlier, the police had stopped the Yatra from marching further, citing restrictions. But the authorities allowed a few leaders to pay floral tribute to B.R. Ambedkar near his statue.

“The Modi government has declared June 25 as Samvidhan Hatya Diwas (Constitution Assasination Day). Have you ever thought that in the name of celebrating Constitution Assasination Day, that very day they announced the SIR in Bihar, which is a conspiracy to snatch voting rights of Bihar people,” said Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretary of CPI(ML)-Liberation.

Bhattacharya added that the special intensive revision's (SIR’s) attack started in Bihar and people realised that earlier the backbone of the economy was broken through demonetisation, GST, lockdown,

In the same way, through vote ban and vote theft, there is a conspiracy to destroy the electoral credentials of India’s parliamentary democracy system. The whole of Bihar has made up its mind that vote theft has to be stopped with full force, using this vote correctly, we have to remove this government from power,” said Bhattacharya.

Supporters of various parties in the grand alliance take part in the Voter Adhikar Yatra in Patna on Monday (September 1, 2025). Photo: Umesh Kumar Ray

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in his address said that vote is not of any party, it is of the country.

"Through this vote, a country and the Constitution remain strong or weaken. In 2024, few clever people came into government by using money power. Since then they have destroyed the country. If we do not become alert now then we will not get a second chance,” said Soren.

“They harass their opponents with all kinds of tactics. I was also kept in jail for several days. I contested the Lok Sabha elections from jail. Later, we won the Jharkhand assembly elections and formed the government. If I had not been jailed, we would not have let them open their account in Jharkhand,” he added.

Soren challenged the government to step down and then conduct the SIR.

“There is Special Voter Revision, there is Intensive Voter Revision. But, what is special intensive revision? Since when both started happening together?” Step down from the government and then get the special intensive revision done. We accept it. If you have the courage, then leave the throne of the country and do the revision, then you will know who stands where,” said Soren.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Bihar is the mother of democracy and two persons from the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission want to destroy democracy in Bihar.

"Modi ji sets up a factory in Gujarat and wants victory in Bihar. But people of Bihar know how to teach a lesson. The government running in Bihar is a double engine government. One engine is involved in crime and the other in corruption,” said Yadav.

“Voters’ names are being deleted, so you people have to protect your votes. You should not let your and your relatives' votes be deleted. Fake voters are also being added. So, keep eyes on it and give them a befitting reply in elections,” he added.

 'Mahagathbandhan will form government in the state'

There was a huge crowd of party supporters along the road, through which the yatra was supposed to reach Ambedkar Park. The supporters waved party flags and raised slogans against vote theft.

The Yatra has sent a strong message against the alleged theft of votes among supporters of the various parties who are in the grand alliance. Workers of three major parties – RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) – Liberation – told The Wire that they have strong feelings that votes are being stolen by BJP.

Anil Kumar, a Congress worker, who joined the march from Samastipur district, believes that the Modi government is stealing votes and this time the assembly elections in Bihar later this year will result in a change of government.

“65 lakhs names have been deleted as part of the SIR. If 5-6 lakhs names were deleted it was justified but how can so many names be deleted. This is a clear indication that there has been a conspiracy of vote theft,” he says.

He added that Gandhi’s participation in Voter Adhikar Yatra has energised Congress workers and the has strengthened the Mahagathbandhan.

The middle aged Balmiki Paswan, who came from Jehanabad to participate in the Yatra said that he identifies himself as a CPI(ML)-Liberation worker.

However, he was carrying two flags – one of Congress and one of CPI(ML)-Liberation.

“Both parties are in alliance that is why I am carrying both parties’ flags. There has been resentment against the Nitish government so we believe that this time Mahagathbandhan will form government in the state,” Paswan told The Wire.

“Ye sarkar to vote chori kar raha hai...Zinda aadmi ka vote kaat de raha hai...yeh chori hi na hai (The Government is stealing votes. In the voter draft list, names of persons who are alive have been deleted by declaring them dead. So this is definitely vote theft),” he said.

RJD supporter Madan Chandravanshi who joined the Yatra from Punpun said that he had been waiting since a long time without even eating his meals just to support the Mahagathbandhan.

“In my village many names were deleted from the voter list. They again submitted forms to add their names....if the government is not planning to steal votes then why so many genuine voters' names were deleted?,” asked Chandravanshi.

As the election process comes under scrutiny, read The Wire's coverage of the Bihar SIR, opposition's allegations and more, here

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