Sasaram (Bihar) [India], August 17 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday called for removing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in Bihar, referring to the party as “thieves” who are harming democracy by stealing the people’s votes.
“Choro ko hataiye, BJP ko bhagaiye, aur hume jitaiye, (Remove the thieves, make the BJP run away, help us win),” Lalu Yadav said during the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar’s Sasaram.
He urged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to stand united with the RJD, along with his son Tejashwi Yadav, to “uproot the BJP and throw them away”.
“At any cost, do not let the BJP, which is a thief, come to power. Everyone, stand united, and together, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, uproot them and throw them away. Save democracy,” the RJD chief added.
The Congress is currently holding a 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, protesting against the alleged ‘vote chori’ that Opposition parties have accused the Election Commission and the BJP of perpetrating. The yatra began from Bihar’s Sasaram on Sunday, with several leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, Kanhaiya Kumar and others participating.
Earlier, while speaking at the rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vowed to expose any theft of votes, whether it happens in Maharashtra, Bihar, or elsewhere in the future.
“The entire country knows what the Election Commission is doing. Earlier, the country did not know how votes were being stolen. But we made it clear in the press conference how votes are being stolen. Whenever the theft is happening, whether in Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, Bengal, we will catch the thief and work to show the people,” Rahul Gandhi said.
He described Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a “conspiracy” by the Election Commission, adding that the “vote theft has been exposed” and the Opposition will fight against the alleged manipulation of elections.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission emphasised that any issues regarding errors in electoral rolls, including those from the past, must be raised during the “Claims and Objections” period.
According to the Commission, sharing the electoral roll with all political parties and candidates ensures transparency, allowing concerns to be raised in a timely manner. The EC also noted that political parties and their booth-level agents often fail to examine the electoral rolls when required.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the Election Commission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to deceive the people of Bihar regarding the voter list.
“Narendra Modi is dead set on destroying the lives of the youth of Bihar. Modi makes the illiterate clap for him and does politics. But we engage in the politics of distributing work to everyone’s hands. Today, that is why we are here. Election Commission, Modi Bihario ko choona lagana chahate hai (want to scam the people of Bihar). Do not think of Biharis as weak,” Yadav said.
He recalled the words of socialist leader and freedom fighter Ram Manohar Lohia, who advocated that voting rights should be maintained by the downtrodden.
Yadav added, “Lalu and Lohia have always been saying that ‘the rule of votes means the rule of small’. Our Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar, has given us all this right and given us the power to vote. Whether it is someone poor, rich, or powerful, everyone has the right to give one vote, which is given by the Constitution.” (ANI)
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