Tag: Vote Chori

‘Rahul’s Vote Adhikar Yatra Failed To Have A Big Impact In Bihar’

By Lokmarg

Prashant Manav, a student associated with socio-political movements in Bihar, says Election Commission’s rolls revision has made the state voter suspicious of SIR. His views:

Rahul Gandhi began his “Vote Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar from the historic land of Sasaram. He was the central face of this journey. While it can be considered successful, calling it a “great success” would be an overstatement. This yatra only covered a few districts; out of Bihar’s 38 districts, he was only able to cover 23.

These 23 districts contain about 50 assembly constituencies, where the Mahagathbandhan had won 23 seats in the 2020 assembly elections. Specifically, if we talk about Congress, they contested on 20 of those 50 seats and won eight. Based on these figures, it’s evident that the purpose of the Yatra was to secure their existing strongholds and consolidate some potentially favourable seats. So to say this Yatra had a massive impact across all of Bihar would be incorrect.

Regarding the crowds — yes, there was a significant turnout, but not to the extent that was expected. In fact, had it not been for the RJD workers, even those crowds could have been questionable. Many of the cities and places he visited are already strongholds of the alliance.

As for the ‘vote theft issue’, it has certainly stirred anger within some specific communities, which may benefit the Mahagathbandhan. But overall across Bihar, the issue of vote tampering hasn’t become a major concern for the general public.

Removing 6.5 million voters from the electoral list is no small matter. In a state like Bihar, where administrative flaws are frequently exposed, people are naturally suspicious of how the Election Commission managed to execute such a massive task in such a short time. Under the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process, removing so many voters so quickly raises serious questions — like, under whose influence did the Commission make such a huge decision?

It seems that this mass deletion disproportionately targeted specific communities, and such a detailed, strategic plan could only have been prepared by those in power — likely developed over years. If the decision was truly neutral and independent, it wouldn’t have been implemented so hastily.

ALSO READ: ‘Nitish Kumar Is Bound To Lose CM’s Chair This Year’

Another major controversy was the discovery of more than 200 registered voters at a single empty house. This kind of mistake shows administrative manipulation, as these entries were accepted without proper verification.

Unemployment in India has risen significantly in recent years, and the current government is largely responsible for this. It is the government’s duty to create jobs and opportunities — but no such effective policies have emerged. Even when job openings are announced, recruitment processes are often marred by corruption. This has left the poor, middle class, and educated youth frustrated. So, yes, the reason why youth are attending Rahul Gandhi’s rallies is primarily due to their anger with the current government.

Nitish Kumar remains a key factor in the upcoming 2025 Bihar elections. Ignoring his presence in this election is not just difficult, it’s impossible. He still retains credibility among a section of voters, largely due to his role in freeing Bihar from the so-called ‘Jungle Raj’ era. That generation still respects him and plays a decisive role in the ‘family-vote’.

The BJP-led alliance NDA has played a masterstroke by launching the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’ (Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme), similar to schemes in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. This is a well-timed move to attract women voters just before elections. Besides, with 6.5 million voters removed, NDA stands to gain substantially. Their political strategy has always focused on specific communities and issues, and now they can concentrate even more narrowly on those groups.

Bihar has always led the country in political thought and revolutionary movements. However, in recent assembly elections, it seems to have lost that leadership spark — it’s a progressive state only in name, still categorized among the BIMARU states. There may be a political shift in the future, but as of now, no clear sign of that change is visible.

(The narrator is a student of MIT SOG Student (MPG Batch-20), Pune with roots in Bihar. Currently, he is pursuing internship as a political assistant to Pushpam Priya Choudhary, founder of The Plurals Party, an initiative to bring in grassroots change in Bihar.)

As told to Amit Sengupta

‘Unfortunate That Rahul Is Targeting Election Commission For Political Gains’

By Lokmarg

Prof Amar Bahadur Shukla from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University says Rahul Gandhi must show a conclusive proof of vote theft instead of repeatedly targeting the ECI. His views:

The Election Commission of India is a constitutional body and an autonomous authority under Article 324 of the Indian Constitution, which is delegated to hold free and fair elections at various levels elections in the country. If a political party, in this case the Indian National Congress and its allies, allege that it is acting in a partisan manner and indulging in “vote theft”, then it is a serious matter of concern.

However, in spite of repeated allegations at multiple public platforms, Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, has not provided any conclusive proof for the charges levelled at the Election Commission.

With the entire fiasco of the alleged vote theft, some of the political parties are referring to the so called illegal or fraudulent practices used to manipulate election results, undermining the democracy at large while trying to prevent the true will of the people from being represented. And as the general public (read the voters) are so well informed thanks to the social media, the entire ruckus, started in the parliament (in both the houses) with allegations and criticism of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, only appears to be a step to confuse people.

The ECI, however, also took confronting steps and even, in a way, challenged the so called ‘protesters and saviours’ of democracy by holding an open press conference and rejected all the allegations. Despite a stern warning by the ECI, to submit an affidavit with proof or produce a written apology in front of the nation no one turned up till now. So, when the ECI claims its stand for its neutrality and impartiality toward the people of the country, why is no one coming up with justifications is a question equally looming in the minds of the voters and the ‘deleted’ voters.

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Besides this, the ECI has been working round the clock providing facts and data about the recently concluded SIR in Bihar and according to the statistics available widely in the media, over 90 per cent of the cross checking of the legal votes and substantiating legal documents (for the genuine votes) has been completed. This clearly squares off the matter that only fake or wrong names have been removed from the voter list and it is also not true that only the poor are being struck off. People have been given enough time to submit proper documents and prove that their names were wrongly deleted.

Therefore it can be said that this matter is completely political and it is very unfortunate that legal and constitutional institutions like the ECI are being questioned, defamed and, in a way, hurdles are being created to stop it from working and producing before the upcoming Bihar elections.

If ‘Vote Chori’ was a genuine concern, would it not be raised in the Himachal Pradesh and Telangana elections by the ruling government? Or was it, just as claimed by the opposition parties, a bait to make them forget the process in the bigger elections like the Lok Sabha of the 2024?

Here the role of the media is very important to be neutral and provide impartial information to the people so that confusions can be eradicated. The whole debate will certainly have an impact in the Bihar elections – positively or negatively, specially for BJP but vote theft is not a big issue here because there are more issues in Bihar like unemployment, poverty, lack of quality education, insufficient health infrastructure and mechanisms. This unnecessary debate is becoming a crucial issue in the political sphere of Bihar that needs to be addressed and all political parties should focus on more genuine issues related to the common people instead of confusing them.

At told to Rajat Sharma

Who Moved Your Vote?

By Amit Sengupta

If crowds indeed are an indication, a deep churning is happening. Will it translate into votes? No one knows.

However, it is time that in a Hindi heartland largely in the grip of retrograde Hindutva, Bihar shows the revolutionary way, as in the past.

The 16-day long Vote Adhikaar Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi (RG), with Tejashwi Yadav along, has attracted tens of thousands of supporters. This is just about the first phase, and the huge crowd in Gaya, Nawada and other towns could be an indicator of a manthan, beyond the entrenched caste equations.

With Nitish Kumar’s credibility having sunk to abysmal levels, and unconfirmed reports that he is ailing, his erstwhile base among the EBC and Pasmanda Muslims might be on shaky ground. And with the BJP top brass now in the rat-trap of ‘vote chori’, and after having failed in all fronts, it is not going to be easy for this opportunistic alliance.

RJD remains the largest party in the Bihar assembly. It’s ‘Muslim-Yadav (MY)’ base remains intact – though it has to expand, especially among the EBC, Dalits and minorities. They have to break the steadfast Nitish-vote bank, because the upper caste vote, feudal landlords etc, largely, will stay with the BJP.

The Congress has a limited base in the state, but the large rallies might boost the alliance. And with the ideologically committed CPI-ML (Liberation) as ally, with its solid constituency in the margins, a formidable coalition can, indeed, become an electoral reality.

RG, in his trademark white T-shirt, and the swirling, excited crowd of people waving Congress and RJD flags, reminds of the stupendous success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. It catapulted the Congress leader into national limelight for months, which decisively broke the nightmarish atmosphere of State terror, the entrenched phobia in the civil society (ED raids, jailed young scholars, clampdown on dissent etc), amid organized media censorship.

The Yatra also created a refreshing discourse of ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’, amid an atmosphere of hate and fear. The positive message sent shivers down the spine of a dictatorial regime, which, apart from the politics of polarization, had seriously damaged the basic tenets and essence of Indian democracy.

The Red Book (not the ‘Mao Red Book’) of our Constitution became the weapon in the hands of RG. The values and vision of the freedom movement, its secular and progressive ideals, became the doctrine of this ‘Satyagraha on foot’.

Thousands across the country took time off from work and home to join this great experiment in solidarity, including women, youngsters, senior citizens, celebrities, and citizens from all hues of the vast Indian kaleidoscope. It was a glorious celebration of the inherent ethos of unity and diversity, embedded early in our childhood consciousness through school text books, as much as a defiance against the one-dimensional, shallow, fear-driven hate machine of Hindutva.

ALSO READ: Is Rahul The Last Mughal Of Gandhi Dynasty?

Undoubtedly, ‘Vote Chori’, the propaganda blitz started by Rahul Gandhi, and with intentions as noble as they can get, has struck a deep chord with the people. The campaign started with irrefutable evidence, while the government seems to have turned speechless – as in Manipur, or Donald Trump claiming a ceasefire.

Or, the Pahalgam murders.

Indeed, the most uncomfortable questions have not been answered. As always.

How come there was not one cop, a security apparatus, and check points, in an extremely popular tourist hub in a highly fortified conflict zone, when the terrorists struck in Pahalgam with the cold-blooded killings of Indian men? And thereby comfortably escape? Jammu and Kashmir, after all, is now a Union Territory, directly under the government in Delhi.

Who were the terrorists and why have they not been caught till this day – and how did this major intelligence failure allowed to happen?

How many aircraft were lost by India, including the multi-million, state-of-the art, French fighter aircraft called Rafael, and why?

Why, not a word has been uttered on China, which was reportedly remote-controlling the Pakistani counter-attack, and successfully so?

Why did Mr M’s regime allow Donald Trump to hijack what has been for decades a bilateral issue? Did he or did he not, stop the war?

As for the muscle-flexing and fake news in the stooge media, with sirens blowing inside the studios, and Islamabad captured etc, it all became a magnificent box office flop.

Mr M’s emotional rhetoric on Operation Sindoor bombed in the face of the unanswered questions. (Talking of Pulwama – the difficult questions still remain — unresolved.)

Meanwhile, skeletons are toppling over all over the place, and many more might emerge. Data as evidence, voters whose names mysteriously disappeared, voters with bizarre names, one room address with hundreds of listed voters, houses with numbers such as 0, the same voters listed in several constituencies, one 128year-old woman voter, dead voters suddenly appearing as living human beings, the strange public conduct of the EC chairman, the uncanny silence of the last EC chairman, the Supreme Court’s judgment on 65 lakh voters (not a low number) – things are not at all hunky dory for what is being called the ‘B’ team of the BJP.

As CPM MP John Brittas said: “Gyanesh Kumar has spoken at least one fact and truth. He said that crores of people are on the streets, they don’t have houses. So, their house number is 0… Will he say there are crores of people who do not have parents, they are orphans, and that’s why their parents’ name is ABCDEFG? He has to explain that also.”

He said the EC should merge with the BJP. “Why should we need to pay so much of taxes to run such institutions that are a B team of the political party?”

Meanwhile, reports have emerged asking uncanny questions on the Maharashtra elections, again, first raised by Rahul Gandhi in a newspaper article. Before the assembly elections in the state, observers believed that after the surprising defeat of the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections here, the assembly polls will reflect a similar trend in certain constituencies. However, the BJP victory took them by surprise. Now the bitter reality seems to be sinking fast.

Media reports are quoting the findings by Vote for Democracy (VFD), a civic action group led by eminent experts. It has been released with analysis of each of the 288 constituencies in the Maharastra assembly. The findings are disturbing.

The report is titled Dysfunctional ECI and Weaponisation of India’s Election System, and is based on official data released by the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). It also encapsulates discussions with voters, polling staff, etc.

VFD has distinguished experts: M.G. Devasahayam, IAS (retired), Coordinator of Citizens’ Commission on Elections, Pyara Lal Garg, former Dean, Panjab University, Madhav Deshpande, specialist in computer software and architecture, and Professor Harish Karnick, former Professor, Computer Science, IIT-Kanpur.

The report (released August 16, 2025) states that in the November 2024 elections, Maharashtra witnessed a late surge voter turnout. At 5 pm, voter turnout stood at 58.22%, but by midnight it had risen to 66.05. This is a huge rise of 7.83% — that is, as many as 48 lakh extra votes. Nanded, Solapur, Beed, Jalgaon, Hingoli and Dhule recorded double-digit spikes. It has been observed that over the years such late surges have been very rare.

Many seats were decided by extremely small margins. As many as 25 seats were won just about 3,000 votes or less, and 69 seats by fewer than 10,000 votes, says VFD. This is a pointer that small shifts can mark a decisive change in the final outcome. There are other findings that cast a shadow on the poll results.

Clearly, if alleged vote fraud has happened, this ‘EVM’ phenomenon has to be thoroughly investigated and exposed. A vote fraud means that those who have done it, and successfully so, they will do it again. That means, to retain illegitimate power, they can go to any extent.

Democracy, overnight, can turn into a dictatorship.

The intelligent voter in Bihar, as in other places, seems to have sensed this diabolical and dangerous reality. Hence, the huge upsurge in the RG rallies.