Nawada/Nalanda (Bihar) | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that a "partnership" has been going on between the Election Commission and the BJP to "steal votes" and cautioned people in Bihar that once their right to vote is snatched away, their ration cards and lands will also be taken away.
Gandhi also claimed that the last Bihar Assembly polls were also "stolen" and this truth would come out one day.
"When this truth comes out, the Election Commission people should not forget that our government is going to take action against them," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said while addressing a gathering in Nalanda on the third day of his Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.
He also asserted that the youth of Bihar will not allow votes to be "stolen".
"They will not let it happen because vote is our right and the poor in today's India have only their right to vote left, and if your right to vote is taken away, then your ration card, your land and everything will be taken away," Gandhi said.
Alleging that the EC is getting "vote chori" done, Gandhi said that after an analysis the Congress found over one lakh fake voters voted in one assembly segment of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha seat but the poll body refused to answer and asked him to give an affidavit instead.
"EC did not give an answer when we asked for a machine-readable voters' list and videography as it is getting 'vote chori' done," the former Congress chief said.
"Don't ask for an affidavit from me, it is your (EC's) data...people of Bihar will come to ask you to give an affidavit, people of Bihar will not let vote chori happen," he said.
Gandhi said 65 lakh voters have been deleted in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and urged people to not allow this.
"We have started this yatra against 'vote chori' that will travel through Bihar," Gandhi said with the crowd responding with the slogan 'vote chor, gaddi chhor'.
He also asserted that there is an urgent need to combat unemployment.
"We have to finish 'Made in China' and bring in 'Made in India' and 'Made in Bihar'. We have to end unemployment," Gandhi said.
Earlier, addressing a gathering at Bhagat Singh Chowk in Nawada, Gandhi said the right to vote has been given to the people by the Constitution and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the election commissioners are "snatching" it away from them.
"This is your right that has been given to you by the Constitution that you have fought for and Modi, Shah and election commissioners are snatching away from you. (RJD's) Tejashwi (Yadav), me and the other (Mahagathbandhan) leaders standing here want to tell them that we will not let you steal even one vote in (Bihar)," Gandhi said.
He alleged that the EC-BJP have "stolen" the elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.
In Maharashtra, about one crore voters were added through magic between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls, Gandhi said.
"Now in Bihar they are carrying out 'vote chori' in a new manner. They are doing this chori before your eyes but we will not let them do vote chori," he said.
Cautioning the people, he said, "First your voter card will go, then your ration card will go and then your land would be handed over to Adani and Ambani."
This country belongs to farmers, labourers, small traders and the youth, and not to a few billionaires like Adani and Ambani, he said.
Gandhi said all the wrong laws, GST, demonetisation are aimed at benefiting a few billionaires.
"You give money and resources and the country cannot give you employment, this has to change and that is why we have started this Voter Adhikar Yatra," he said in his address to the people standing atop his vehicle flanked by RJD's Tejashwi Yadav and CPI(ML) Liberation's Dipankar Bhattacharya.
At the start of the address, Gandhi asked a person whose name had been deleted from the voters' list to address the people. The person said he had been a polling agent in the Lok Sabha polls but his name had been removed from the SIR of electoral rolls.
"There are lakhs of such people in Bihar who voted but their names have been removed from the voters' list," Gandhi said.
"There is a partnership going on between the BJP and the Election Commission, they are together colluding to indulge in vote chori," he charged.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejaswi Yadav, while addressing the gathering in Nawada, said that whenever the Lok Sabha elections are held in future, "we will make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister."
The leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly targeted the EC on the issue of SIR and said that "vote theft" will not be allowed in Bihar.
He also claimed that after "vote theft", people's ration cards and pensions will be snatched away.
On Tuesday, the third day of the yatra started from Wazirganj in Gaya and entered Nawada. After this, the yatra reached Nalanda via Sheikhpura. Wednesday is a break day in the yatra and it will again start from Nalanda on Thursday.
Gandhi also paid homage to the statue of Bihar's first chief minister Krishna Singh in Sheikhpura.
The yatra is being undertaken in a hybrid mode, on foot and by vehicle, as was Gandhi's Manipur to Mumbai Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
It will also pass through Lakhisarai, Munger, Bhagalpur, Katihar, Purnea, Araria, Supaul, Madhubani, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Chhapra and Ara.
