By Arun Srivastava
PATNA:“Voter Adhikar Yatra” by the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and supported by the INDIA Bloc entered its fourth day in Bihar with massive participation by the common people, especially the poor and women in the march. For the Bihar people, the yatra is not merely an exercise to expose the ECI’s conspiracy to disenfranchise the poor and proletariat or even does not manifest the ecstasy of the INDIA bloc to win the assembly election, instead it is a janakranti (people’s rebel) by the common people of Bihar to protect and preserve their right to vote.
In the post Independent India, this is the second massive peoples’ revolt in Bihar, only after the JP movement of 1970s, which had inspired the people to come to the street and fight the autocratic government of Indira Gandhi during emergency.. Undoubtedly the leeway for the revolt this time has been created by Rahul Gandhi and leaders of INDIA bloc, it is the ordinary people, the poor and proletariat, who are acting as the vanguard of the current struggle against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Since its launching on August 17, the Yatra has been receiving tremendous peoples’ response. It is to be seen and believed. Even the intelligence agencies confess that never before this nature of peoples’ surge was witnessed. The massive turn out of the people was simply not “to see” Rahul Gandhi. In the time of digitalised India, people see Rahul throughout the day in action either on TV or YouTube. But this is a gush with a difference. No doubt peoples’ response to his Yatra, simply reinforced the message “This is our fight and we are determined to win”. People have assembled not to see him instead lend their support to his Yatra.
Rahul Gandhi has virtually become the symbol of this peoples’ determination. Experts recall that Rahul had visited Bihar several times, but this nature of response was never witnessed earlier. This determination of the people got manifest on the day he landed in Sasaram in Bihar. The district authority did not extend any help in refurbishing the helipad, meant for Rahul’s helicopter landing as part of the opposition’s Voter Rights Yatra in Bihar. The people of Sasaram, of course the political activists, hurriedly constructed helipad on Sunday night. The district administration did not provide light facility. The helipad was built using bike-lights. Videos of workers using bike lights to complete the work circulated widely on social media.
The mood of the people in Sasaram, Gaya and Nawada who were out on the streets of Bihar to extend their moral and ethical support to Voter Adhikar Yatra nevertheless did not endorse the observations of some political experts that economic issues should have been projected as the key factors during the Yatra. They endorse Rahul’s strategy and agenda. People openly express their disgust with the Election Commission and even hold that retired CEC Rajiv Kumar and present incumbent Gyanesh Kumar ought to be prosecuted for taking away their constitutional right to vote.
CEC Gyanesh Kumar unfortunately has become a villain in the eyes of people of Bihar. They emphasise that he and his predecessor Rajiv Kumar have damaged the prestige of ECI. Incidentally Sanjay Kumar, co-director of Lokniti, has revealed that ECI has suffered massive decline during last six years of Modi rule. In 2019 only 6 per cent in MP distrusted ECI. But in 2025 it has shot to 22 per cent. In Delhi it has gone up from 11 % to 30 %; in UP it has declined to 31 % from 11 %. No doubt this is a systematic decline and puts a question mark on the credibility of Modi.
ECI sources also agree that it is basically the poor and proletariat section which have been denied the right to vote. They face the danger of being disenfranchised. 52 % people do not have birth certificate. 66% do not have father’s birth certificate and 70 % do not have their mother’ birth certificate. Obviously CEC insisting on birth certificate is ominous. Only rich and upper caste people have all these facilities. Only yesterday the ECI came out with the announcement that subsequent to Supreme Court’s interim order those aggrieved at being left out of the draft voters’ list in Bihar should be allowed to file claims using their Aadhaar cards. In fact the people in Bihar are sceptical of this announcement. In the backdrop of ECI consistently telling lies, they are not inclined to believe it.
They have their argument: if the ECI accepts the order of Supreme Court, then why it is not willing to hold the assembly election on the basis of the old voters list.. They strongly nurse the view that ECI would not reverse its decision to declare voters as dead. Doing this would jeopardise Modi’s interest and also will result in disgrace for ECI.
Rahul Gandhi is also reluctant to accept Gyanesh Kumar’s clarification: “For the last 2 decades, all political parties have been demanding corrections in the Electoral Rolls. And to address this, the ECI has begun the Special Intensive Revision of Voter Rolls.” Gandhi retorted; “SIR is a way to steal the votes of people of Bihar.” With the Yatra moving ahead, the response of the people is also multiplying. Nobody has imagined that Rahul’s Yatra will receive such a tremendous response. The Congress on Wednesday alleged that the Election Commission stood “thoroughly exposed” not only for its “incompetence” but also for its “blatant partisanship”.
The RJD leader Tejashvi said “Will not allow irregularities in Bihar. Narendra Modi wants to apply Choona to the people of Bihar but he does not know that in Bihari, Choona is used in Khaini (chewing tobacco) and eaten by people over here.” Speaking at the rally, CPI(ML) Dipankar Bhattacharya said “The vote thieves have stolen votes in many elections and they have decided to do dacoity in the Bihar election. We will uproot this government with voting rights.”
Rahul nevertheless sent a strong message to the INDIA allies that while he is willing to give space to them, but it should not be at the cost of Congress. Shooting up of the support base for Congress has made him ebullient. It was seen at Aurangabad, where he contacted Kanhaiya Kumar over mobile and asked him to accompany him. Last month at a rally of Rahul held in Patna, Kanhaiya was not allowed to ride in the vehicle of Rahul. It was interpreted by RJD leaders as good omen for Tejashvi.
While addressing the gathering at Nawada, on the third day, Kanhaiya Kumar said: “We will form the government not with the vote theft but with honesty. If there would be no voting rights the country will not survive, we all have to take pledge to save voting rights.” He along with other leaders chanted ‘Gali Gali Mein Shor Hai Narendra Modi Vote Chor Hai’. Significantly RJD chief Lalu Yadav who has been keeping away from active politics participated at Sasaram meeting and addressed the gathering “We have made many sacrifices to save democracy. We will continue to do so in the future. We will not let our voting rights we erased. We will not let it perish”, he said. (IPA Service)
