Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP has been stealing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections across the country with the help of the Election Commission.
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Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi alleged that the BJP has been stealing Assembly and Lok Sabha elections across the country with the help of the Election Commission.
Addressing a rally in Sasaram, Bihar, on Sunday, before embarking upon the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, the Congress leader said: “Their last conspiracy is to delete and add voters through Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar to steal the upcoming Assembly elections. We will not let them repeat it in Bihar.”
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The Yatra, flagged-off by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, will cover 1,300 km across 25 districts in 16 days and will conclude with a massive public rally at the historic Gandhi Maidan on 1 September. Rahul Gandhi will be accompanied by RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and other top leaders of the INDIA Alliance.
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The Congress leader said: “We have exposed how the Election Commission has been stealing votes. We won’t allow them to do it anymore – be it Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam or West Bengal. Wherever they will do it, we will expose them.”
He also spoke about voter manipulation in Maharashtra that swung the Assembly polls results, alleging that one crore names were added to electoral rolls and that wherever such additions happened, BJP won.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that people must realise the conspiracy against the people’s power.
He said: “The government first removed the Chief Justice from the Chief Election Commissioner’s Selection Committee, replacing them with a Union Minister. Later, the government enacted a law granting impunity to the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners for actions in official capacity. Now the BJP is using the Election Commission to manipulate voter lists across the country in a manner that suits them best. You can’t even file an FIR against them.”
Kharge also attacked PM Modi for declaring from the Red Fort that RSS has been serving the country for 100 years.
He said: “The truth is that RSS was against the country’s independence. People with RSS ideology assassinated Gandhi ji. RSS had no contribution to the freedom struggle. On the contrary, RSS people wrote letters to the British seeking forgiveness and jobs.”
“The BJP and the RSS are dangerous for the poor, the youth, and especially for women. They were never in favour of voting rights for women. They even said that Pandit Nehru was making a mistake by giving women the right to vote. Today, Modi ji praises such people…” he added.
In his brief address, Lalu Yadav said, “‘Choro ko hataiye, BJP ko bhagaiye, aur hume jitaiye’. Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, Mallikarjun Kharge, and all of you unite, uproot them and throw them away. Save democracy.”
Addressing the rally, Tejashwi Yadav said, ‘Vote ka raaj matalab chhot ka raaj’ (rule through votes means rule for the marginalised). From Lohia to Lalu Yadav, they have fought for this very idea. But today, the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, is snatching away people’s right to vote.
The RJD leader said this is not just vote theft, but a robbery of democracy. “Bihar is the cradle of democracy. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and the Election Commission — listen carefully: democracy will not be allowed to perish.”
He warned people of Bihar that if their names are removed from the voter list, they will also be removed from pension and ration benefits. Tejashwi said, “This is a big conspiracy, and the people of Bihar will respond to it. Narendra Modi wants to cheat the people of Bihar through the Election Commission.”
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