‘Choro ko hataiye, hume jitaiye’: Lalu Prasad Yadav accuses BJP of ‘stealing’ votes; calls for opposition unity at 16-day ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ | India News
NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday took a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), referring to the party as “thieves,” while speaking at the launch of the Congress-led ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Sasaram. Yadav accused BJP of harming democracy by stealing people’s votes and appealed Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to join hands with the RJD and his son Tejashwi Yadav to “uproot the BJP and throw them away.”
“Choro ko hataiye, BJP ko bhagaiye, aur hume jitaiye (Remove the thieves, make the BJP run away, help us win),” Yadav said. “At any cost, do not let the BJP, which is a thief, come to power. Everyone, stand united, and together, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, uproot them and throw them away. Save democracy,” he added, as quoted by ANI.Also read: Rahul Gandhi kicks off ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar: 16 days, 1,300 km, 20 districts – full routeThe ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ is a 16-day campaign by the Congress to protest alleged ‘vote chori’. The march began in Sasaram on Sunday with the participation of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Pawan Khera, Kanhaiya Kumar and other leaders.Addressing the rally, Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP and the Election Commission of manipulating elections. “The entire country knows what the Election Commission is doing. Earlier, the country did not know how votes were being stolen. But we made it clear in the press conference how votes are being stolen. Whenever the theft is happening, whether in Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, Bengal, we will catch the thief and work to show the people,” he said. Gandhi described Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) as a “conspiracy” by the Election Commission and claimed the “vote theft has been exposed.”Also read: Vote ‘chori’ row: Rahul Gandhi calls SIR ‘conspiracy to steal Bihar election’; attacks ECIThe Election Commission, in response, said errors in electoral rolls should be raised during the “Claims and Objections” period. It noted that electoral rolls are shared with all political parties to ensure transparency, but added that parties and their booth-level agents often fail to review them when required, reported ANI.RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also hit out at the Election Commission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing them of deceiving Bihar’s voters. “Narendra Modi is dead set on destroying the lives of the youth of Bihar. Modi makes the illiterate clap for him and does politics. But we engage in the politics of distributing work to everyone’s hands. Today, that is why we are here. Election Commission, Modi Bihario ko choona lagana chahate hai (want to scam the people of Bihar). Do not think of Biharis as weak,” he said.Invoking socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia, he underlined the importance of protecting voting rights. “Lalu and Lohia have always been saying that ‘the rule of votes means the rule of small’. Our Constitution, Babasaheb Ambedkar, has given us all this right and given us the power to vote. Whether it is someone poor, rich, or powerful, everyone has the right to give one vote, which is given by the Constitution,” he added.
