Patna: As the debate on irregularities in voter lists has gained ground, Bihar's Mahagathbandhan in a bid to take the issue to the common people kicked off its ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ or Voters' Rights March from south Bihar's Sasaram on Sunday (August 17).

This 16-day-long march is to culminate in a grand rally in Patna on September 1, the day when the Election Commission (EC) will publish Bihar's final electoral rolls as part of its special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.

Lok Sabha leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress president and Rajya Sabha leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge landed in Sasaram from Delhi to join Sunday's march.

Leaders from the INDIA bloc in Bihar, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Vikassheel Insaan Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist- Leninist) Liberation, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) were present on stage.

Former deputy chief minister and RJD MLA Tejashwi Yadav drove Gandhi and other alliance leaders to stage in a jeep.

Former Bihar chief minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad too was present despite his deteriorating health.

In the rally, Mahagathbandhan leaders made it clear that vote chori (theft) and the SIR in Bihar are going to be their prime focus ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, which are due in October-November.

Gandhi held up a copy of the constitution and said that there is a need to fight to save it.

He termed the SIR an attempt to alter the state's voter lists to help the BJP win the assembly elections. Addressing the crowd from onstage, he said: “I am saying from the stage that Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being stolen in the entire country. Their [the BJP's] last conspiracy is to steal the Bihar elections by adding new voters and deleting old voters through the SIR. We all have come to say from this stage that we will not let them steal the elections.”

Gandhi added: “And the people of Bihar will not let them steal [the elections], because the poor and the weak have only votes. And we will not let the votes be stolen. What the Election Commission is doing is known to the entire country, now this is not hidden.”

He further said: “Earlier the country did not know how [vote] theft is done, but we showed in a press conference how it is being done. And now we will not let this theft happen. Whenever this theft is happening, whether in Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam or Bengal, we will catch their theft and show it to the public. We will show the country the truth of the SIR.”

Citing the example of Maharashtra, Gandhi recalled that while the INDIA bloc swept the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and its alliance partners won the assembly elections that took place four months later.

“When I inquired into it, I came to know that one crore new voters were added between the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, and that all the seats where new voters were added were won by the BJP and its alliance partners. Our voter share did not decrease, but the BJP got all the newly added votes and won.”

Lalu Prasad Yadav in his brief address said: “Dethrone the thieves, chase away the BJP and make the Mahagathbandhan win. The BJP, which steals votes, must not be allowed to come [to power] at any cost. Everyone should unite and uproot and throw the BJP away … Let democracy be strong.”

‘After voter list, names will be deleted from pensions, rations’

Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the BJP is using the EC to snatch the people's voting rights.

He said: “Lohia [socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia] and Lalu ji would say that vote ka raj ka matlab chhot ka raj [‘a government by vote means a government of the downtrodden’]. But now, whatever the BJP cannot do itself, it is now doing it through the Election Commission and taking away your right to vote.

“The names of many living people were deleted and they were told that they are dead. We presented those people who were declared dead in the Supreme Court” and highlighted the BJP's ‘dishonesty’, he said.

Adding that “your vote is not being stolen but robbed,” Tejashwi went on to say that the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and the EC “should listen carefully” that he and Gandhi would not let the vote be taken away from Bihar, which he described as the “mother of democracy”.

“They are trying to snatch not only your rights but your existence,” he continued.

Being deleted from the voter rolls would mean that a person would also be excluded from pensions and rations, Tejashwi alleged. “This is a big conspiracy. We all must take revenge for this conspiracy. We all must protect our votes. We have come to assure you that we will fight for you.”

Kharge said they are fighting for democracy, the constitution and voting rights. “Until this man [Modi] is removed from the government, your voting rights will not be secure. Your freedom will not be secure, the constitution will not be secure.

“Dethrone the vote thief … only the people of Bihar can do it. Bihar had in the past taken the lead in big movements and now again we need you. You come forward and we will fight together and make voting rights strong,” he said.

Voter Adhikar Yatra to cover 1,200-1,300 kilometres

CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya described the occasion as not just the beginning of a yatra but of a “mass movement” for Bihar and all of India.

“After stealing votes in many states, these vote thieves felt that now they can rob Bihar not behind curtains but in broad daylight,” he said.

But by blocking the roads on August 9, you made it clear that vote theft and on top of that, showing off the chest will not be tolerated.”

He added: “The names of 65 lakh people have been deleted from the voter list, out of which 22 lakh people have been declared dead. But Mintu Paswan went to the Supreme Court and said that the Election Commission declared him dead in a conspiracy of vote theft while he was alive. We want to know how many Mintu Paswans are still alive. The names of 35 lakh people who go out to earn money have also been deleted from the voter list.”

“Bihar will neither tolerate votebandi nor vote theft. This election is an election to change the government.”

“This [the SIR] is just the beginning. After 65 lakh [names], more thefts are to happen and fake names are to be added, so you all stay awake, stay vigilant. Fight for every vote, and when the time to vote comes, uproot this government with your every vote. We must protect the constitution, freedom and voting rights,” he told the rally.

The yatra will pass through 23 districts covering 1,200-1,300 kilometres in total, covering more than 40 assembly seats, mostly strongholds of Mahagathbandhan partners, said a Congress leader.

From Sasaram, the yatra will go to Aurangabad and then to Gaya and adjoining districts. It will cover Seemanchal (Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia and Araria) in the fourth week of August, following which it will head to Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Sitamarhi, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran and East and West Champaran.

This will be the third yatra that Gandhi will lead after his Bharat Jodo Yatra in September 2022-January 2023 and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra that took place between January and March 2024.

A Congress leader said: “Rahul Gandhi will cover the Yatra on foot and by vehicle along with other party leaders. Leaders from alliance partners will join midway according to their availability.”

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