Patna – Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday declared that his party will soon release what he called a “hydrogen bomb” of revelations on alleged vote rigging (“vote chori”), which, he claimed, would leave Prime Minister Narendra Modi unable to face the nation.
Speaking at the concluding event of his ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Patna, Gandhi asserted that Bihar has always been a revolutionary state and has once again sent a powerful message. “We will not allow them (BJP) to destroy the Constitution. That is why we launched this yatra, and people responded overwhelmingly, raising the slogan ‘vote chor gaddi chhor’,” he said.
Taking aim at the ruling party, Gandhi added, “Have you heard of anything bigger than an atom bomb? It’s a hydrogen bomb. BJP, get ready. Soon the truth about vote chori will come out.” He claimed that after these revelations, the Prime Minister would “not be able to show his face to the country.”
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha alleged that votes had been “stolen” in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and pointed to his party’s evidence of electoral malpractice in the Mahadevapura Assembly segment of Karnataka’s Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency. He linked vote rigging to “theft of rights, democracy, and employment,” warning youth in Bihar that it threatens their ration cards and entitlements.
The remarks came during the INDIA bloc’s culmination march of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, which began on August 17 from Sasaram. Covering 1,300 km across 110 Assembly constituencies in 25 districts of Bihar, the yatra sought to highlight alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The final leg of the march, named ‘Gandhi se Ambedkar’, was stopped midway by police at Dak Bungalow crossing, where Gandhi and other leaders addressed supporters.
Rahul Gandhi was joined by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, TMC MP Yusuf Pathan, CPI’s Annie Raja, VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, and other INDIA bloc allies.
The day began with floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Maidan before the leaders set off for the march.