Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday expressed confidence that the entire country will oppose attempts at “election chori” (election theft), drawing parallels with the response to his ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament, Gandhi said, “The response is very good. Everyone in Bihar is now saying ‘vote chori’. This is reality. An attempt is being made, but Bihar is resisting—and the whole nation will resist.”
He also extended congratulations to BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy for his victory in the Constitution Club of India elections.
The Voter Adhikar Yatra, launched from Sasaram on Sunday, is a 16-day march against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar, which the Opposition has termed an attempt at “vote theft.” Gandhi has been joined by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(M) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya on different legs of the rally, which will cover over 1,300 km across 20 districts before concluding in Patna on September 1.
The BJP, however, dismissed the Congress leader’s claims. Party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia accused Gandhi of running a “jhooth ki dukaan” (shop of lies) and asked whether he would apologise for spreading falsehoods. Bhatia pointed to the Supreme Court’s August 18 dismissal of a petition challenging the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, noting that the court found no evidence of bogus voting and termed the petition a misuse of process.
Echoing this stance, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress wanted “infiltrators and deceased people” to remain on voter rolls. “What do they want? That infiltrators be made voters? That the names of those who have died or are listed in two places be kept? They have no clarity on their stand,” he told ANI.
