Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] on August 16 launches a scathing attack on Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal [RJD] over their ‘Vote Adhikar Yatra’ which commenced in the poll bound state of Bihar on Sunday.
Terming the RJD-Congress Yatra in Bihar as ‘Samvidhan Badnam Yatra,’ BJP leader CR Keshvan alleged that while Congress and its ally RJD speak of protecting “one person, one vote”, their true agenda is centred on promoting “one family and one dynastic rule”.
“Rahul Gandhi’s yatra is nothing but ‘Samvidhan Badnam Yatra’ (Constitution slander yatra). Rahul Gandhi’s deliberate and repeated attempts to sabotage Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar ji’s constitution with his undemocratic and underhanded scarecrow tactics of fear-mongering will miserably fail. As far as Rahul Gandhi and Congress, and their cohorts are concerned, they talk about protecting one person, one vote, but in reality, for the Congress and RJD, it is all about one family and one dynastic rule,’ he said.
This comes after the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, and others, kick-started the party’s 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ from Sasaram on Sunday in the poll-bound state.
The Yatra, launched in protest against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar and alleged ‘vote chori’, will culminate in Patna on September 1 after covering more than 1,300 km across over 20 districts in 16 days.
Addressing a gathering, the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched attack on the BJP and the Election Commission (ECI) for “manipulating” voter lists, alleging that votes were being stolen in the name of “Special Intensive Revision” (SIR).
“SIR means stealing votes from the people of Bihar. Earlier, they used to do it secretly. Now they are doing it openly in front of everyone,” the Congress MP alleged.
Meanwhile, the Chief Election Commissioner of India on Sunday refuted allegations of “vote theft” by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and asked him to either furnish a signed affidavit or apologies to the nation for his remarks.
The CEC also termed the allegations of bias by the LoP in the Lok Sabhas as an “insult” to the Constitution of India.
“An affidavit will have to be given or an apology should be made to the country. Teesra koi vikalp nahi (There is no third option.) If the affidavit is not received within 7 days, it means that all these allegations are baseless…” CEC Gyanesh Kumar said while addressing mediapersons at a briefing at the National Media Centre in the national capital.
Bihar Assembly elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November where the Congress-RJD led INDIA bloc will be up against the BJP-JDU led NDA alliance.
[With inputs from agencies]
