Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by Bihar’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, reached Aurangabad on Monday to continue the second day of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’.
Before addressing a public meeting, the two leaders offered prayers at the Dev Surya Mandir.
The yatra, which began on Sunday from Sasaram, will cover more than 1,300 km across 20 districts over 16 days, culminating in Patna on September 1. The Congress and RJD have framed the march as a protest against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar, alleging attempts at “vote chori” (vote theft).
Senior leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, and Kanhaiya Kumar joined the opening day of the rally. During the Sasaram leg, RJD president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav made a fiery appeal, urging opposition unity to oust the BJP from power, accusing the party of “stealing democracy.”
“Do not let the BJP, which is a thief, return to power. Stand united and uproot them,” Lalu said, calling on Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, and Tejashwi Yadav to lead the charge.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) strongly rejected Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of vote theft. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar termed his claims an “insult to the Constitution”, asking him to submit a signed affidavit or issue a public apology.
Rahul Gandhi, however, hit back at the poll body, accusing it of bias. “The Election Commission asks me for an affidavit, but when BJP MP Anurag Thakur makes the same allegation, no affidavit is sought from him,” Gandhi said.
