Patna: The Congress party’s 14-day, 1,300-km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, led by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, will conclude in Bihar’s capital on Monday with a massive opposition show of strength ahead of the state assembly polls.
Launched from Sasaram on August 17, the yatra was aimed at highlighting what the Congress and its allies allege is an “assault on people’s right to vote” through the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Opposition parties have accused the Election Commission of deleting 65 lakh names from Bihar’s draft rolls, calling it a deliberate disenfranchisement. The EC published the deleted names following a Supreme Court directive.
The concluding day will see INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren, CPI(ML) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI’s D Raja, CPI(M)’s M A Baby, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, NCP’s Supriya Sule, and TMC leaders Yusuf Pathan and Lalitesh Tripathi, join Gandhi in a grand procession.
Dubbed the “Gandhi se Ambedkar March,” the rally will begin at 11:15 am from the historic Gandhi Maidan with floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, before moving through SP Verma Road, Dak Bunglow Crossing, Kotwali Thana, Nehru Path, and Income Tax Roundabout, culminating at the BR Ambedkar statue near Patna High Court. Leaders will then address a public meeting.
Patna has been decked up with posters and banners of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, and Tejashwi Yadav.
Calling the yatra a “religious pilgrimage in defence of democracy,” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said its culmination today “is not an end but the beginning of a new journey to safeguard democratic rights.”
The march has traversed 25 districts and over 110 assembly constituencies, energising the opposition bloc in Bihar as they gear up for the upcoming polls.
