Voter Adhikar Yatra “captivating the people of India”

The pan-Bihar Voter Adhikar Yatra has developed into a "historic agitation" against 'vote chori', said Congress general secretary (in-charge, organisation) K.C. Venugopal on 22 August, Friday, while announcing plans for the coming days, which will see more of the INDIA bloc leaders from across India and from different political parties joining Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav on the road.

Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Yadav, a former deputy chief minister of Bihar, began their yatra on 17 August and took a break on 20 August to return on 21 August.

Among the prominent faces already announced was Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (30 August, who seems to have rescheduled from 28 August); now we can expect to see Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin (27 August), his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren as well as party general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (26–27 August) to join the rallies in protest against the implementation of the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

Earlier, CPI(M-L) Liberation's Dipankar Bhattacharya had joined Gandhi and Yadav in rallies on 19 August, and addressed a press conference with Mahila Congress leader Alka Lamba.

The Congress announced that chief ministers from its own party — A. Revanth Reddy (Telangana), Sukhvinder Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) — will also join the yatra, with dates to be announced in the days ahead.

"As the Voter Adhikar Yatra becomes a historic agitation against Vote Chori that is captivating the people of India, not just Bihar — prominent INDIA and Congress leaders will join the Yatra in the coming week," Venugopal said in a post on X.

Scheduling for Soren, Revanth Reddy and Sukhu are yet to be announced. Venugopal's post said Siddaramaiah-avaru would join the 29 August rally.

The yatra, which began from Sasaram on 17 August, Sunday and reached Bhagalpur on 22 August, Friday, is being undertaken in a hybrid mode — on foot as well as on vehicles — as was Gandhi's Manipur-to-Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ahead of last year's Lok Sabha polls.

Today, 23 August, it will wend its way via Katihar to Purnea

The rally is also scheduled to pass through Araria, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra and Ara in the days ahead, concluding with a mega rally in Patna on 1 September.