Leaders of the INDIA bloc demonstrated solidarity on the final day of the alliance’s Voter Adhikar Yatra (voter rights rally) against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar on Monday (September 1, 2025).
The rally, which was launched on August 17 in Sasaram of Rohtas district, ended in Patna, with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, CPI(M) general secretary M.A. Baby, Vikassheel Insaan Party chief Mukesh Sahani, CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya and other leaders of INDIA bloc joining in.
While addressing the public meeting in Patna, Mr. Gandhi said, “Mahadevapura was an atom bomb, soon I will come out with a “hydrogen bomb” of revelations about “vote chori” and after that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the country.”
Mr. Gandhi said that “vote theft” is about theft of rights, reservation, employment, education, democracy and the future of youth.
He added that the forces that assassinated Mahatma Gandhi were now trying to assassinate the Constitution but he would not allow it.
Mr. Gandhi thanked the people of Bihar for their “overwhelming response and support” to the yatra. He said the people of Bihar had lived up to their reputation of being revolutionary, as the message about “vote theft” had travelled across the country.
Participants at the public meeting raised slogans such as “vote chor, gaddi chod” (vote thief, quit the throne) and “Bihar ka CM kaisa ho? Tejashwi Yadav jaisa ho” (How should the Bihar CM be? He should be like Tejashwi Yadav).
Saran Vikas Manch convener Shailendra Pratap Singh said that the people of Bihar have already accepted Tejashwi Yadav as their Chief Minister and the Assembly election was now just a formality.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said this was the fourth yatra led by Mr. Gandhi to protect the rights of people. He said the rally had created awareness against “vote theft” not only in Bihar but across the country. He accused Mr. Modi of “habitually stealing votes”.
The Congress president also criticised the lack of proper deployment of police at the public meeting. Despite the presence of senior national leaders, including the Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, a Chief Minister and several others, there were no proper arrangements made, he alleged.
He cautioned the police against acting in a partisan manner, telling them that their time was limited as the current Bihar government was changing within six months.
Mr. Kharge also took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying “he came to us but he turned back in fear”. “He did not have the strength to fight against injustice. Leaving the socialist ideology, he followed RSS, BJP. They will junk him in some dumpyard,” Mr. Kharge said.
Mr. Tejashwi Yadav said, “The land of Bihar is the mother of democracy. The BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, wants to end democracy and the Constitution. Narendra Modi will set up factories in Gujarat and wants victory in Bihar. By doing this, they want to deceive Bihar, but this is not possible. The people of Bihar will teach such deceitful people a lesson.”
Central agencies misused, says Soren
Mr. Soren slammed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre and accused them of misusing Central agencies against Opposition leaders.
“The current NDA government is intimidating public representatives using the might of the ED [Enforcement Directorate], the CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], and the IT [Income Tax] Department, and is stealing votes. This theft is not happening today, but has been going on for many years, but now their theft has been found out. People from every section of the country need to raise their voice against these vote thieves, so that your right to vote cannot be snatched away,” Mr. Soren said.
The rally started from Gandhi Maidan after the leaders paid tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. At its close, Mr. Gandhi and other leaders paid floral tribute to the statue of Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar near the Patna High Court.
Published – September 01, 2025 03:19 pm IST