Sasaram (Bihar): A mammoth crowd turned Sasaram into a sea of tricolour on August 17, 2025, as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi launched the historic ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in the presence of senior INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, former Bihar Chief Minister Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav, and former Deputy Chief Minister Shri Tejashwi Yadav. Thousands lined the roads to greet him as he set out on the 16-day, 1,300-km march across 20 districts of Bihar.

Modi undermining right to vote given by Constitution: Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge

Addressing the rally ahead of the yatra, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge exhorted upon the people of Bihar to rise against the vote theft and support Rahul Gandhi. He said, people of Bihar are capable of defeating the “vote thieves” as they have always done so since the freedom struggle of the country. Congress President said, “Bihar is the birthplace of democracy, Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ is starting from Sasaram. This yatra will cover a distance of 1,300 kms through 20 districts in 16 days and will end on 01 September at the historic Gandhi Maidan. Tejashwi ji and all the opposition leaders, everyone...all our leaders, all Party members will be present in this yatra and you should fully support the yatra that is being done in your interest, in the interest of the country, to save the Constitution and to protect Democracy.” He categorical said, “These RSS people were against the freedom of the country. They separated Mahatma Gandhi from his people and such people serve the country! RSS…how many of your people went to jail? How many of your people were crucified? How many of your people left school and college and came to the field? Tell me who died? Not even one died. These people even used to apply to the British for jobs, to get themselves out of jail. Don’t arrest us, we will be with you…if Modi ji praises such people while standing at the Red Fort, then what is the soul of those who fought for freedom, lakhs of people who died, saying… there was a man in the country for whom we shed blood, for whose freedom we did everything, sacrificed our lives, but this man is speaking against us.” Referring to the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, Kharge ji said, it was not for winning an election, but to save the Constitution, democracy and people’s right to vote. He pointed out how under a design, the Election Commission of India had removed 65 lakh voters from the electoral rolls. He said, the deleted voters mainly include those belonging to Dalit, Adivasi & minority communities, the backward classes, and other marginalised people. Congress President concluded his speech and said, “I will tell you one last thing. That is - we have to raise all the burning issues of the country, be it inflation, jobs, housing, education, health. Modi is not paying attention to this and Modi should know that if he does not listen to the problems of the people, the people will remove him, if not today then tomorrow, and will bring our good government there.”

BJP stealing election after election across country: Shri Rahul Gandhi

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Rahul Gandhi said, it was the battle to save the Constitution. He accused the RSS and the BJP of trying to “wipe out” the Constitution by stealing the elections. He said, the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections in the country were being stolen.

Referring to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, he said, it was the latest conspiracy to steal the Bihar elections, but the people of the state and the INDIA bloc will not let the Modi govt. do that.

Shri Rahul Gandhi said that -This is a fight to save the Constitution. RSS and BJP are trying to destroy the Constitution in the whole of India. Narendra Modi and BJP win every election, wherever you see elections, they win. All the opinion polls in Maharashtra were saying that the All-India Alliance will win the elections in Maharashtra. During the Lok Sabha (elections), our alliance wins the elections in Maharashtra, four months after that, BJP’s alliance sweeps the same Maharashtra and wins the elections.

Citing the example of Maharashtra, he disclosed that while the INDIA bloc swept the Lok Sabha elections in the state, within four months, the same alliance was almost wiped out in the Assembly elections whereas the BJP-led alliance won a sweeping victory. This, he explained, was because between the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections, one crore votes were added in Maharashtra and all the new votes went to the BJP.

Shri Rahul Gandhi also referred to the comprehensive case study of Mahadevapura assembly segment in Bengaluru Central parliamentary constituency in Karnataka, where over one lakh fake votes were found, through which the BJP managed to win the LS seat. He said this was happening everywhere in the country.

Shri Rahul Gandhi reiterated his Party’s commitment to carry out the caste census across the country and remove the fifty percent bar on reservations in the country. He said, although Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to the caste census under pressure, but he was sure that Modi govt would not do it seriously and sincerely. Nor will he remove the fifty percent ceiling on reservations, he observed.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Shri Rahul Gandhi said, “Narendra Modi ji and NDA run the government with billionaires. You cast your vote. Your vote is stolen and then all your money is given to five-six billionaires. We said in Parliament that we want caste census and the wall of 50 percent reservation should be broken. I said this in front of the Prime Minister. But BJP... Narendra Modi came under pressure and said that he will do caste census, but I know that he is not going to do the real caste census. He is not going to break the wall of 50 percent and Congress Party. India Alliance will get caste census done in the whole of India. We will break the wall of 50 percent and the vote theft that they are doing, you see. We will stop the vote theft and the truth of SIR, the votes that are being stolen from the poor people of Bihar, we are going to show it to the whole country. Among those present were Lalu Prasad Yadav, KC Venugopal, Bhupesh Baghel, Tejashwi Yadav, Krishna Allavaru, Rajesh Ram, Shakeel Ahmad, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, Dipankar Bhattacharya and others.

Voter Adhikar Yatra concludes with mammoth rally in Patna

Patna: As the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ concluded with a mammoth show of strength here on September 1, 2025, the Leader of Opposition and Congress leader Shri Rahul Gandhi said that very soon he will be coming out with more explosive revelations like a “hydrogen bomb”, which will be more powerful than the “atom bomb” like revelations he made about Mahadevapura in Karnataka. He said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the nation after those revelations are made public, as it will be established beyond any doubt that he has been repeatedly stealing elections.

There will be new government in Bihar after 6 months: Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge

Addressing the mammoth rally in Patna, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said, this was the fourth yatra led by Rahul Gandhi to protect the rights of people. He said, the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ had created awareness against vote theft not only in Bihar but across the country.

He accused Prime Minister Modi of being habitual of stealing votes. He said, even those who had defrauded the banks had fled the country during this regime. He cautioned people against their votes getting stolen by the Modi-Shah duo.

He said that Dalits and backwards have the right to vote, that is why everyone comes running to you, if you did not have the right to vote, no one would care about you. In the beginning, I found it strange when for a few days our home minister used to go to Dalits’ houses to eat, he used to tell in videos and on all channels. Is the country going to be saved by eating at Dalits’ houses? The country will be saved when you work to feed the poor, there is freedom, you save the Constitution, you save democracy, only then will we live in peace.

Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said - it was only because of this right that people were cared about. “Only because you have the right to vote, people reach out to you”, he observed, while adding, “otherwise, nobody will bother or care.” He said, this right was under constant attack.

He criticised the lack of proper deployment of police at the rally. He said that despite senior national leaders like the Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, one Chief Minister and several others being present at the rally there were no proper arrangements. Why the government has not made police arrangements? He cautioned the police against acting in a partisan manner, telling them that their time was limited as the current double-engine Bihar government was changing within six months and the new government that will come, will be the government of the poor, the government of poor women, the government of Dalits, the government of backward people, that is why you have to work hard.

Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge also took a dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, reminding of his past espousal of the socialist cause. “You have now fallen in the lap of the RSS and the BJP and they will junk you in some dump yard,” he remarked.

Shri Rahul Gandhi Promises ‘hydrogen bomb’ like explosive disclosures on vote theft and says, Modi will not be able to show his face to nation after that

Addressing a mammoth public rally, organised at the conclusion of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ at the historic Gandhi Maidan here today, Shri Gandhi thanked the people of Bihar for their overwhelming response and support to the yatra. He said that the people of Bihar had lived up to their reputation of being revolutionary, as from Bihar the message about vote theft (vote chori) had travelled across the country.

Maintaining that voter theft was an attack on the Constitution and the rights of people, Rahul Gandhi said, the same forces, which had killed Mahatma Gandhi, were now trying to kill the Constitution. “But we will not allow that to happen at any cost,” he asserted with a huge thumping applause from the responding crowd.

Cautioning that the BJP will not stop merely at vote theft, Shri Gandhi told the people, “The voter theft will lead to taking away your rights, reservation, employment, education, democracy and the future of the youth.” They will not only be taking your vote, they will take your ration card and land also, he further warned.

The Leader of Opposition sounded an advance alert to the BJP telling them that he will soon be coming out with more revelations, more explosive than Mahadevapura. “While the Mahadevapura revelations were like an atom bomb, I will now be coming out with a ‘hydrogen bomb’ to expose voter thefts in different parts of the country, after which Modi will not be able to show his face to the country”, he said, while pointing out, he had already provided proof of the voter theft in black-and-white and will be producing more.

He thanked the people of Bihar, the youth of Bihar, the women of Bihar, and says this is a revolutionary state. It has given a message to the whole country that we will not let votes be stolen and what you have done in Bihar, the help you have extended to us, it has spread in every corner of the country.

Among those present included Jharkhand Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren, Shri Tejashwi Yadav, Shri M.A. Baby, Shri Dipankar Bhattacharya, Shri Annie Raja, Shri Mukesh Sahani, Shri Sanjay Raut, Shri Jitendra Awhad, Shri Yusuf Pathan, AICC General Secretary (O) Shri KC Venugopal, AICC Bihar in-charge Shri Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Pradesh Congress President Shri Rajesh Ram, Shri Shakeel Ahmed and leaders from INDIA Bloc.