Daijiworld Media Network - Sitamarhi

Sitamarhi, Aug 28: Congress leader and Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused the BJP of orchestrating a calculated purge of over 65 lakh names from India’s electoral rolls, calling it a “wider conspiracy” aimed at disenfranchising the poor and marginalised.

Speaking on the twelfth day of his Bharat Voter Adhikar Yatra, Gandhi claimed the BJP is deliberately deleting names belonging to Dalits, minorities, and backward classes while sparing the affluent. “This is not a clerical error. It’s a planned attack on democracy,” he said, holding up a copy of the Indian Constitution. “Once your vote is taken away, everything else follows — your ration card, your land, your rights.”

He warned that electoral manipulation is only the first step in a larger agenda to strip citizens of basic entitlements. As an example, he referred to Mahadevapura in Karnataka, where Congress had alleged the presence of thousands of fake voters in favour of the BJP. “They rigged the vote there. We exposed it. Bihar won’t be their next target,” Gandhi declared.

He stressed that the Voter Adhikar Yatra is not symbolic but a challenge to both the BJP and the Election Commission. “This is a direct message — voter suppression will be resisted at every step,” he added.

Joining Gandhi on stage were INDIA bloc allies including RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Congress’s Rajesh Ram, who echoed concerns about what they called “selective deletions” from voter rolls.

The opposition leaders presented a united front, vowing to protect the voting rights of marginalised communities and demanding full accountability from electoral authorities.