Rahul’s Vote Adhikar Yatra in Bihar from Sunday

With Congress leader Rahul Gandhi all set to launch the “Vote Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar on Sunday, highlighting the alleged assault on the people’s right to vote through the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the poll-bound state, the Election Commission (EC) on Saturday claimed that “some political parties” had been raising issues about errors in electoral rolls, including those prepared in the past, adding that timely complaints would have led to rectifications in the voter list.

The EC’s clarification came on a day when it announced a press conference on August 17, which coincides with Rahul’s planned yatra in Bihar.

At the press conference, the poll panel is likely to reiterate its stand of having initiated the SIR to strengthen democracy.

The main allegation of the Congress-led Opposition has been that through the SIR, lakhs of Dalit, migrant and poor voters are to be systematically removed from the state’s voter list.

According to the draft electoral roll released by the EC on August 1, around 65 lakh voters face the possibility of being removed from the voter list in Bihar.

It is in this context that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is launching the yatra in the state.

Congress leader Akhilesh Prasad Singh told reporters in Patna that Rahul was likely to be in the state for over a fortnight till the yatra concluded with a rally in Patna on September 1.

Rahul would launch the yatra from Sasaram on Sunday, he said.

“The yatra will build a tempo in favour of the INDIA bloc ahead of the Assembly poll,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

“At Sasaram, Rahul is likely to be joined by Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in Bihar, besides our other alliance partners, including three Left parties. For the final rally in Patna on September 1, we will try to bring leaders of as many like-minded parties as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Saturday, the EC said political parties had been involved at each stage of the preparation of the electoral rolls in Bihar and appropriate time and opportunity had been given to electors and the parties to rectify errors, if any, in the draft rolls.

The parties and common voters had been given time till September 1 to report any errors as well as additions or deletions in the draft rolls.

However, not a single party had reported any errors to it in the draft rolls till date.

It’s last updated data on August 15 had reported “zero” response from any of the major national as well as state-level parties regarding request for any claims or objections in the draft rolls.

“Recently, some parties and individuals have started raising issues about

errors in the electoral rolls, including those prepared in the past. The appropriate time to raise any issue with the electoral rolls was during the claims and objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the electoral rolls with all parties and candidates. Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the SDM/EROs concerned to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections,” the poll panel said in the statement.

Top News