Congress leader and Lok Sabha Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi began his ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar on Sunday. At the rally, he promised to expose what he called “vote chori” (vote theft) and accused the Election Commission of running a “conspiracy” through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.

Gandhi Accuses Election Commission of Vote Theft

Addressing supporters, Gandhi said, "The entire country knows what the Election Commission is doing. Earlier, people did not know how votes were being stolen. But we explained in our press conference how it is happening. Whenever this theft occurs—whether in Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, or Bengal—we will catch it and show it to the people."

He went on to say that the SIR in Bihar was another attempt to manipulate elections. Gandhi warned that both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections were being stolen across India. "Their latest conspiracy is to conduct SIR in Bihar and steal the Bihar elections by cutting genuine votes and adding fake ones," he declared.

Gandhi’s Call to Voters

Gandhi urged Bihar’s people to resist. "Bihar's population will not let this theft happen. Why? Because poor people only have the vote, and we will not let vote chori happen," he said.

Election Commission Responds

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) dismissed the allegations. In a press conference on Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said the poll body would not take sides with either the ruling party or the opposition.

He emphasized that all political parties had equal access to the commission. "Fifteen days are still remaining. The Election Commission calls on every political party to bring any problems in the draft electoral roll before us using the prescribed forms," Kumar said.