SIR 'organised bid' to steal votes: Rahul 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused the Election Commission of "institutionalising vote theft" through the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.      

Addressing mediapersons in Araria, he accused the poll panel of siding with the BJP and making the SIR exercise “an organised attempt to manipulate the vote bank for the saffron party”.

“The EC has stopped being impartial. It is openly working for the BJP. The revision of rolls is not routine, it is an institutionalised way to steal votes,” he said.

With RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav and leaders of other allies by his side, Rahul recalled how the poll panel had earlier asked him to file an affidavit when he raised concerns about irregular voter lists in Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. “But when a BJP minister made similar claims, the commission did nothing. That exposes its bias. This attitude has to change," he asserted.

On the Congress-led ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, the Congress leader claimed the campaign had received an overwhelming support in Bihar. “Crores of people have joined us on their own. The anger against vote theft is so strong that even children are chanting slogans demanding the BJP vacate power,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said all INDIA bloc partners in Bihar were working together with mutual respect and would release a joint manifesto soon for the Assembly elections.

He said the Opposition alliance was both “politically and ideologically aligned”, and the outcome of their efforts would be positive. "This is a true partnership, built on cooperation and respect. We will go into the elections unitedly, and the results will be fruitful,” he said.

When pressed on why Tejashwi had not been declared as the INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial face, Rahul avoided a direct answer. “Our focus is on working together and checking vote theft. That is the priority,” he replied.

The joint appearance also saw leaders from CPI (ML) Liberation, VIP and the Congress on stage. CPI (ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, VIP’s Mukesh Sahni and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar were among those present.