Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday signed off his 1,300-km Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar with a message of gratitude, sharing a montage of the march set to A.R. Rahman’s Dil Se Re on social media.
“Bihar apka bohut abhaar, dher sara pyaar, dil se (Much gratitude, lots of love, from the heart),” the leader of Opposition wrote.
The march, organised to highlight the opposition’s campaign against the alleged vote theft by the Election Commission and the BJP, started on August 17.
It will culminate on September 1 at Patna with a final march from Gandhi maidan to Ambedkar park.
The yatra started from Sasaram, spanned Aurangabad, Gaya, Nalanda, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnea, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra and Arrah, covering 25 districts and more than 110 assembly constituencies.
Here are the key moments from the march.
Throughout the campaign, the Congress leader travelled in an open jeep alongside RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, CPI-ML’s Dipankar Bhattacharya and Vikassheel Insan Party’s Mukesh Sahani, presenting a picture of opposition unity in the state.
“Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhor” slogans followed the Yatra across villages and towns.
A rain-soaked rally, where Rahul Gandhi held up a copy of the Constitution, produced the speech that captured the Yatra’s tone.
“Vote theft…is an attack on the Constitution. It is an attack on the soul of Hindustan. Vote theft is an attack on Bharat Mata. We will neither let the EC nor Modi attack our Bharat Mata and Constitution,” he said.
The Congress leader linked the right to vote to the legacy of Gandhi and Ambedkar. “Remember, if your vote is stolen, you will be robbed of your future,” he told the audience.
Rahul Gandhi waded barefoot into a pond in Simaria to meet foxnut farmers, who told him they earned Rs 40 per kilo for a crop sold at high margins in urban markets. “The due of the hard work and skill must go to the labourer,” he said, calling makhana a “superfood produced by the blood and sweat of Bihar’s farmers.”
Another viral episode unfolded when Gandhi rode a Bullet motorcycle in Darbhanga with sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on the pillion, her first appearance in Bihar since entering active politics.
As he adjusted her helmet, he quipped: “Didi ke liye bhi helmet hai na (there’s a helmet for her, right)?” Tejashwi Yadav rode close by.
A row erupted after Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Vadra and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had left for Muzaffarpur from Darbhanga on motorcycles.
A purported video showed a person using a Hindi expletive against Modi from a dais during the yatra in Darbhanga.
Workers and leaders of the BJP and the Congress clashed in Patna during a protest march taken out by the ruling party in protest against the alleged use of abusive language for Prime Minister Modi.
The Congress accused the BJP of "attacking" and "vandalising" its Sadaqat Ashram headquarters and said it was sabotage.
There was humour too.
Responding to a question on political alliances, Tejashwi Yadav teased Chirag Paswan about marriage. Gandhi grabbed the microphone to add: “This is applicable to me too.” The exchange revived a familiar subplot, with Tejashwi reminding the crowd of his father Lalu Prasad Yadav’s matchmaking attempts.
“It’s going on, through his father,” Rahul said.
Rahul Gandhi, who has called the yatra as a “revolution,” signed off with Dil Se, seeking to strike an emotional chord with Bihar just months ahead of the Assembly polls.