Rahul Gandhi Slams Electoral Roll Revision as 'Vote Theft'; Vows To Protect 'One Person, One Vote' (screengrab: x.com/RahulGandhi
Aurangabad, Bihar: Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday (August 18) stated that he Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is a new method for ‘vote theft,’ and he pledged to uphold the principle of ‘one person, one vote.’ On his WhatsApp channel, Rahul Gandhi made this statement after meeting with a group of people in Bihar.
He met with the group in Sasaram on Sunday (August 17), at the start of his ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’. They informed him that their names had been deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR process, despite having voted in the last Lok Sabha election.
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In a Hindi post featuring a picture of the meeting, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha stated, “SIR is a new weapon of vote theft. Coincidentally, these people standing with me in this picture are ‘living’ proof of this theft,” the PTI quotes, as Rahul Gandhi is saying.
He said that while all of the people he met had voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, their names were later removed from the voter lists before the Bihar assembly elections, effectively erasing their identity and existence from India’s democracy.
“Do you know who they are? Raj Mohan Singh (70): Farmer and retired soldier; Umravati Devi (35): Dalit and labourer; Dhanjay Kumar Bind (30): Backward class and labourer; Sita Devi (45): Woman and former MNREGA labourer; Raju Devi (55): Backward class and labourer; Mohmuddin Ansari (52): Minority and labourer,” Congress leader added.
Continuing further, Gandhi said that alleged that the BJP and the Election Commission are “colluding” to punish the ‘Bahujan’ and poor communities, and that even soldiers have been impacted by these actions.
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“Due to social discrimination and economic conditions, they are unable to fight against the conspiracy of the system.We stand here with them to protect the most basic right of ‘one person, one vote’,” he said.
Meanwhile, a 1,300 km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram entered its second day and the Yatra is expected to reach Gaya this evening.
