‘Your Vote Cannot Be Stolen’: RaGa Raises Alarm Over Electoral Manipulation in Bihar

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sharpened his attack on the BJP, accusing the ruling party and the Election Commission of colluding to “steal votes” ahead of upcoming elections. Addressing a massive gathering at Bhagat Singh Chowk in Nawada, Bihar, during the ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra, Gandhi alleged that the BJP has systematically erased genuine voters’ names from electoral rolls while artificially inflating numbers in its favour.

During his speech, Gandhi invited a local resident, Subodh Kumar of Maharath village in Nawada, to share his experience. Kumar, who claimed to have voted in the Lok Sabha polls and even worked as a polling agent, said his name had been removed from the voter list. “There are lakhs of people in Bihar like Subodh whose names existed earlier, who voted in the last election, but now their names have been deleted,” Gandhi remarked.

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Election Commission of orchestrating electoral fraud, Gandhi declared, “We will not allow even a single vote of Bihar to be stolen.”

The Congress leader alleged that similar irregularities took place in Maharashtra, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh. “In Maharashtra, almost one crore new voters suddenly appeared after the Lok Sabha elections. We asked the Election Commission who these new voters were, but they refused to answer or provide videography records. Laws have been changed to cover up this theft,” Gandhi charged.

He further warned that the BJP’s strategy of undermining democratic rights goes beyond voter suppression. “First they will take away your voter card, then your ration card, and finally your land will be handed over to Adani and Ambani. This country does not belong to two or three billionaires—it belongs to farmers, workers, small traders and the youth,” he said, accusing the Modi government of tailoring policies like GST, demonetisation, and “wrong laws” for corporate benefit.

Gandhi was joined by RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and other opposition leaders, underscoring the INDIA bloc’s collective pushback against alleged attempts to manipulate electoral rolls. He urged the people of Bihar to remain vigilant and to resist efforts to dilute their constitutional rights.

“This Voter Adhikar Yatra is about protecting democracy, about ensuring that your right to vote is not stolen,” Gandhi told the cheering crowd that had braved heat and rain to attend the rally.

Concluding his address, Gandhi thanked the people of Bihar for their overwhelming support and reiterated his call for unity against what he termed the BJP’s “systematic theft of democracy.”

Also Read: Opposition Hits Out at Election Commission Over Bihar Voter List Controversy