The Congress’ Voter Adhikar Yatra ended in Patna on Monday with Rahul Gandhi warning the BJP to brace for a “hydrogen bomb” of revelations on vote theft.
The 14-day, 1,300-km yatra, which passed through 110 assembly constituencies in 25 districts of Bihar, culminated in a Gandhi se Ambedkar march from Patna’s Gandhi Maidan.
The INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sanjay Raut, TMC’s Yusuf Pathan, CPI(M)’s M.A. Baby, and CPI’s Annie Raja, walked together before the police stopped the procession at Dak Bungalow crossing.
'Vote chor gaddi chhodd'
Rahul Gandhi turned the culmination into a direct assault on the BJP and the Election Commission.
“The forces that killed Mahatma Gandhi are trying to murder the Constitution of India,” he said. “We will not let them murder the Constitution and that is why we took out a yatra. We got a tremendous response. People came out in large numbers and raised the slogan ‘vote chor gaddi chhodd’.”
Then came the sting. “BJP people showed black flags to us. I want to tell them, listen carefully. Have you heard of anything bigger than an atom bomb, what is bigger than that, it is a hydrogen bomb. In Mahadevapura, we had shown an atom bomb. BJP people, be ready, a hydrogen bomb is coming. People are soon going to find out your reality of vote chori.”
“In the coming time, I am guaranteeing you that after the hydrogen bomb (comes), Narendra Modi ji will not be able to show his face to the country,” Rahul said.
Karnataka and Maharashtra example
Rahul Gandhi cited Mahadevapura in Karnataka and Maharashtra polls as examples of “vote chori”.
“We showed that in one assembly segment there were one lakh fake votes. We showed it in our press conference. The EC does not give us a machine-readable voters’ list, it does not share videography. We did a lot of hard work to get evidence and put it in black and white before the people,” the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said.
“In Maharashtra, the election was stolen from Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP(SP) and this is cent per cent true. One crore voters were added between Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Maharashtra. New voters came and voted. We got the same votes but all the new votes went into the pocket of the BJP alliance. We won the Lok Sabha polls but in the assembly elections, we were wiped out because the Election Commission and the BJP colluded to do vote chori,” the Congress leader said.
For him, this wasn’t just about ballots. “I want to tell the youth of Bihar, vote chori means ‘chori of rights, chori of reservation, chori of democracy, chori of employment, chori of education, and chori of future of youth. They are not just taking away your vote, they will take away your ration card and land, and give it to Adani, Ambani.” Rahul said.
On X, Rahul wrote: “Heartfelt thanks to Lalu Prasad Yadav ji, Tejashwi Yadav ji, Dipankar Bhattacharya ji, Mukesh Sahni ji, Bihar Congress leadership, the Congress’s Babbar Sher, INDIA workers, and the youth of the state for making the Bihar Voter Rights March historic. We pledge – not a single vote will be stolen in Bihar. We will protect democracy and the Constitution with all our might.”
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “Whenever I listen to Rahul Gandhi, inside or outside the Parliament, it takes time to understand what he is trying to say. Today he said, 'maine atom bomb phoda hai ab mai hydrogen bomb phodunga'. How are the atom bomb and the hydrogen bomb related to the elections? Why is Rahul Gandhi demeaning himself as the Leader of Opposition. The nation should understand, Rahul Gandhi is irresponsible."
Tejashwi trains guns on Nitish
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav didn’t hold back against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar.
“The Bihar CM is not in a conscious state of mind. He is lacking vision. In fact, the CM does not have a vision for the state. People will oust his government from power in the upcoming assembly polls,” he said.
“The Bihar CM has become ‘Bhishma Pitamaha’ of corruption and he should not speak about irregularities,” he added. “Now, Bihar wants an original CM, not a duplicate one. People of Bihar will teach them (NDA leaders) a lesson in the coming assembly polls. They have been completely exposed. They speak only lies. I must say that the PM is a factory of lies.”
Yadav also hit at the ongoing revision of electoral rolls. “The double-engine government running in Bihar has one engine involved in crime and the other in corruption. The names of many people are being deleted from the voter list. You need to protect your votes. Many fake votes are also being added in a very clever manner. Those who are creating trouble in Bihar have to be given a befitting reply,” the RJD leader said.
Hemant Soren’s call
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren told the crowd the fight was bigger than Bihar.
“It is our vote that protects and safeguards our Constitution. Your vote does not belong to a party; it is for the country. People must fight to protect their right to vote,” he said.
“People’s rights are being snatched by the BJP-led NDA in the name of the SIR. Electoral rolls are being prepared as per the wishes of the ruling coalition. They sent me to jail during the Lok Sabha polls. When I came out of prison during the assembly polls, we formed the government in Jharkhand with a thumping majority. Had I been out of jail during the Lok Sabha polls, they (BJP) would not have opened their accounts in my state,” Soren said.
Congress raises pitch
Congress leaders framed the yatra as a fight for survival of democracy.
“This double-engine government will not be there in the next 6 months, and the government that will come will be the government of the poor, the government of poor women, the government of Dalits,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
“The Voter Adhikar Yatra has once again proved that the voice of Bihar cannot be suppressed and that the votes of 65 lakh people here cannot be diminished. Bihar is the heartbeat of democracy and the protector of the Constitution,” Congress MP Randeep Surjewala said.
“History is being created in Bihar. The historic yatra led by Rahul Gandhi will impact not just Bihar but the entire country. If democracy is to be saved, the right to vote must be protected,” Rajasthan's former CM Ashok Gehlot said.
Road to elections
The Voter Adhikar Yatra, launched on August 17 from Sasaram, was pitched as a direct fight against the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. For the INDIA bloc, it was also a show of strength ahead of Bihar’s assembly polls.