Araria: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the opposition INDIA bloc will come out with a common manifesto for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
Addressing the media at a press conference in Araria with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav by his side, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said that all the constituent parties in the INDIA bloc are working unitedly.
“The INDIA bloc will soon come out with a common manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls. All constituents of the opposition alliance are working unitedly, both ideologically and politically, and the results would be fruitful,” Gandhi said.
“All the alliance parties in Bihar are working together. We have a great partnership…There is no tension. We have mutual respect. We are politically and ideologically aligned. Our goal is clear – to stop ‘vote theft,” he said.
Launching a scathing attack on the NDA government at the Centre, Gandhi alleged that the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the eastern state was “an institutionalised attempt by the Election Commission to steal votes to help the BJP”.
“We will not allow the EC to steal votes in Bihar. The poll panel is working for the benefit of the BJP. The SIR is an institutionalised attempt by the EC to steal votes in the upcoming assembly polls in the state to help the saffron party,” he added.
Earlier in the day, addressing a rally here as part of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’, Gandhi also slammed the BJP-led central government for “shutting all opportunities of employment” for the poor and youths of the country. “The Narendra Modi government… after privatising public sector units… now wants to steal votes of the poor through the SIR with the help of the Election Commission,” he alleged.
“The INDIA bloc will not allow this to happen in Bihar. The Constitution guarantees equal rights to every citizen of the country… the SIR is anti-constitutional. People of Bihar will give a befitting reply to the BJP and its allies in the assembly polls,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.
The 1,300-km ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ was launched on August 17 from Sasaram. It will cover more than 20 districts over a period of 16 days, and conclude with a rally in Patna on September 1.
