Bihar: Rahul and other INDIA bloc leaders to take out 'Vote Adhikar Yatra'

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders are launching a statewide 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' on 17 August in protest against the 'special intensive revision' (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the 2025 assembly election. The aim is also to transform the campaign against "vote chori" into a mass movement, the Congress announced today, 13 August, Wednesday.

Congress general secretary overseeing organisation K.C. Venugopal shared the announcement on X, emphasising that the fight to defend democracy will be fought on the streets.

"Starting 17 August, LOP Shri Rahul Gandhi ji and the INDIA parties will embark on a large-scale Vote Adhikar Yatra throughout Bihar, protesting the hazardous SIR exercise and aiming to turn the fight against Vote Chori into a widespread movement," Venugopal said stated.

Venugopal also mentioned that he had met with several of the other INDIA bloc leaders in Sasaram today to review preparations, coordinate efforts and ensure smooth mobilisation of party workers.

The yatra will culminate on 1 September in a rally at Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

On 12 August, Tuesday, the Congress claimed that "vote chori" is a "do-or-die" issue for the party and outlined a series of activities to communicate the facts it had uncovered to the masses, including via 'Loktantra Bachao' mashaal marches scheduled for the evening of 14 August.

This decision followed a meeting yesterday, 12 August, of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge with party general secretaries, in-charges and leaders of its various organisations.

After the meeting, Congress leader and NSUI in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar told reporters that, going forward, the party plans to engage the public through three key initiatives.

1. On 14 August, the eve of Independence Day, 'Loktantra Bachao' mashaal marches will be taken out from all the party's district headquarters across the country.

2. In the next phase, from 22 August to 7 September, the Congress will hold 'Vote chor, gaddi chhorh' (vote thieves, relinquish power) rallies in all state capitals.

3. Finally, over the month from 15 September to 15 October, the signature campaign to safeguard voting rights — already initiated — will be amped up.

Kumar affirmed that not only the Congress, but the entire INDIA bloc stands united on this issue.

Last Thursday, 7 August, Gandhi had first held a press conference to share data from the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to claim that over 1 lakh votes were "stolen" through five different types of manipulation in one constituency alone, the Mahadevapura assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka.

Opposition parties have since been staging protests in both Houses of Parliament against the electoral roll revisions in Bihar, alleging that the ECI’s actions aim seems to be to "disenfranchise voters" ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, as well as a new campaign highlighting these "vote chori" findings. Today, the Congress shared a video on the latter, calling for the general public too to come together and raise their voices on this travesty of democracy.

The INDIA bloc has been calling for discussion on these matters in both parliamentary chambers, but has thus far succeeded in only shoehorning in a brief 2-minute intervention from Rajya Sabha LoP and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge yesterday.