Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, holding aloft a copy of the Constitution, today alleged that the BJP was attempting to steal votes in the upcoming Bihar assembly elections as “they did in Maharashtra” in the name of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Congress leaders was addressing a gathering in a march that he led from the Income Tax roundabout to the Election Commission’s ( EC) office. The march was stopped near the Shaheed Smarak during the dawn-to-duck Chakka Jam protest called by the opposition Grand Alliance (GA ) demanding immediate halt to the SIR.
Rahul accused BJP of attempting to rig the upcoming Bihar Assembly polls “on the lines of what they did in Maharashtra.”
The Congress leader was seen holding a copy of the Indian Constitution while addressing the crowd. “Just like Maharashtra’s election was stolen, now there is an attempt to steal the Bihar elections too”. He warned the people that “all attempts were being made by the BJP to steal votes in Bihar.”
He said the BJP realised that the Opposition understood the “Maharashtra model”, and now they have brought a new “Bihar model”, a tactic to snatch away the votes of the poor.
Accusing the EC of working to favour the BJP, Rahul said that instead of discharging its responsibility to protect the Constitution, the government was functioning like the offshoots of BJP and RSS.
He warned EC that the law will not spare it if it failed to protect the Constitution and discharge its responsibilities towards the people of Bihar.
Continuing his attack, Rahul said the EC was not an agent of any political party and its job was to uphold the Constitution of the country.
Accusing the poll panel of being partial, Rahul alleged that it was a nominated election commissioner of BJP who was trying to snatch away the people’s future and right, which the people will never tolerate.
He said that earlier election commissioners used to be selected by every political party, but now they have been nominated by the BJP. Even the Chief Justice of India, who had shown his interest to attend the meeting for selecting the election commissioner, was not allowed to join the meeting.
Rahul said after analysing the defeat of INDIA Alliance in Maharashtra Assembly Elections, he carefully analysed the data and found that BJP won in the constituencies wherever the strength of voters had increased by 10%. He said a perusal of data revealed that the strength of voters had astonishingly increased by 4 to 5 thousand within a month in Maharashtra.
He alleged that despite his repeated demand, the EC declined to provide the voter list and videography to cover up the rigging, which “clearly indicates massive irregularities in the voters list during Maharashtra Assembly Elections”.
He said the Constitution has given each voter the right to exercise his franchise, which the EC was snatching away at the behest of BJP.
