SIR Is Another Attempt At Stealing Elections: Rahul Gandhi At launch Of Vote Adhikar Rally In Bihar

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav kicked off a 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in poll-bound Bihar from Sasaram on Sunday.

Speaking at the event, Gandhi accused the BJP of robbing the mandate and undermining democracy.

“The BJP came to power through stealing the election, which undermines democracy. BJP has won both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections by vote theft. It wants to deploy the same conspiracy in Bihar through Special Intensive Revision (SIR). But we will not let them succeed this time,” said Gandhi.

The Raebareli MP pointed out that in Maharashtra, the Election Commission suspiciously added 1 crore voters in just four months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election. He alleged the exercise was done to benefit the BJP in the polls.

Moreover, he said that about one lakh votes were stolen in a single Assembly segment of a Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka, helping the BJP to secure victory.

Such practices are ‘a direct attack on democracy’, he cautioned.

Gandhi further stated that the Mahagathbandhan will not allow such a conspiracy. He said, “Biharis know the power of their vote and that they will first rise against it.”

Endorsing Gandhi’s claims, Tejashwi Yadav accused the Election Commission of working in tandem with the BJP.

“It is not just theft of your votes; this is outright robbery, he asserted.

A massive rally was organised at the Airport Ground before formally embarking on the march. The event saw the presence of senior leaders from across the INDIA bloc participants, including:

• Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge,
• RJD chief Lalu Parsad Yadav,
• Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi,
• CPI ML General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya,
• Bhupesh Baghel and
• VIP Chief Mukesh Sahani

Politics Being done on EC’s Shoulders: CEC Kumar

Responding to the allegations, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar dismissed the claims during a press conference.

“Politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission,” he noted.

Speaking on the SIR exercise in Bihar, he said, “At the ground level, all voters, political parties and booth-level officers are working together transparently, verifying and signing the list, and even giving video testimonials.”

Citing date, Gynaesh Kumar underlined that over 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) of all recognised parties participated in preparing the draft list during the SIR exercise.

“A total of 28,370 claims and objections have already been filed by voters who turned 18 on July 1 or will turn 18 by October 1”, he stated.

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