Patna: Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, joined hands with Mahagathbandhan allies on Wednesday as he participated in the statewide ‘Bihar Bandh’ protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The protest, organised by INDIA bloc parties including the RJD, Congress, and Left factions, saw massive turnout across several districts of Bihar.
Addressing a rally in Patna, Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of attempting to manipulate electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Drawing a parallel with Maharashtra, he alleged, “The way there was vote theft in the Maharashtra elections, a similar attempt is being made in Bihar.” His remarks were met with loud cheers from the protesting crowd, comprising workers from all constituent parties of the Mahagathbandhan.
RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav also addressed the gathering and levelled serious charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. “On the directions of Modi ji and Nitish Kumar ji, names of poor people are being removed from the voter list,” he said. “Their ‘dadagiri’ will not be allowed to work in Bihar,” he added, asserting that the Mahagathbandhan would not allow voter disenfranchisement.
