{"id":356122,"date":"2025-08-30T13:06:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T07:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=356122"},"modified":"2025-08-30T13:06:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T07:36:56","slug":"voter-adhikar-yatra-akhilesh-joins-rahul-tejashwi-says-bjp-is-going-to-flee-from-bihar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/voter-adhikar-yatra-akhilesh-joins-rahul-tejashwi-says-bjp-is-going-to-flee-from-bihar\/","title":{"rendered":"Voter Adhikar Yatra\u2014Akhilesh joins Rahul, Tejashwi, says ‘BJP is going to flee from Bihar’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Voter Adhikar Yatra has the support of all INDIA bloc constituents, recently DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was also spotted in Bihar<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Lending support to Congress\u2019s Rahul Gandhi,  Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday  joined his Voter Adhikar Yatra\u2019 with senior Congress leader KC Venugopal calling him a \u201csteadfast ally\u201d in the fight against the BJP\u2019s alleged attempt to destroy the country\u2019s democracy. \u201cHe has been a steadfast ally in our fight against the BJP\u2019s destruction of our democracy, and a strong voice for the poor and underprivileged in UP and across the country,\u201d Venugopal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to media persons, Akhilesh said the people of Awadh have removed BJP, now the people of Magadh will also remove it. \u201cThe people of Bihar are going to conduct an SIR on the Election Commission, which has become a \u2018Jugaad Commission\u2019 of the BJP… \u2018BJP ka Bihar se palayan hone jaa raha hai\u2019\u201d <\/em>he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi launched the yatra from Sasaram in Rohtas district on August 17 to protest against the Election Commission\u2019s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as constant support. The yatra has the blessings of all INDIA bloc constituents, recently DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was also spotted in Bihar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Voter Adhikar Yatra  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With posters, banners, cut-outs, and hoardings against \u2018vote chori\u2019\u2018(vote theft) along the route, the yatra has covered several districts and has been quite a crowd-puller and Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav have drawn large gatherings, stopping by to meet and listen to supporters. At one point, the two also led on motorcycles. Rahul Gandhi also gave a new slogan \u201cvote chor gaddi chhor\u201d (vote thief leave the throne), underlining INDIA bloc\u2019s allegations that genuine voters had been eliminated from draft rolls and thousands of voters with \u201cghost addresses\u201d added<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main objective, of course, has been to protest against alleged voter disenfranchisement via the SIR process, highlight and oppose the exercise which Congress alleges is being used to disenfranchise key communities\u2014especially Dalits, Adivasis, minorities, and economically weaker groups\u2014by incorrectly deleting or adding voters\u2019 names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The yatra also mobilised allies across the INDIA\/Mahagathbandhan alliance and provoked substantial reactions, including social media, whether it translates into votes is the big question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi\u2019s earlier yatras\u2014Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra\u2014helped revive Congress\u2019s image, and analysts attribute part of its assembly successes in Karnataka and Telangana to these mobilisations. However, electoral gains were not visible in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. The BJP has dismissed the yatra as a \u201ccircus meant more for spectacle than policy impact\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change in Bihar politics<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While bringing together opposition on one common platform, it also brought together adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav was spotted with Lok Sabha MP from Purnia Pappu Yadav alias Rajesh Ranjan in one frame. Pappu Yadav also described Tejashwi Yadav as \u2018Jananayak\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The optics of two political adversaries embracing and interacting cordially on the campaign stage are being watched closely by the ruling BJP-JD(U) led alliance.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will it help INDIA Bloc?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gandhi\u2019s earlier yatras\u2014Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra\u2014helped revive Congress\u2019s image, and analysts attribute part of its assembly successes in Karnataka and Telangana to these mobilisations. However, electoral gains were not visible in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The yatra is strategically aimed at improving the party’s and the coalition’s strike rate, therefore it is not just a mass messaging. If it galvanises voters\u2014especially around exclusion fears\u2014it could boost turnout and sentiment in favour of the INDIA bloc.  But raising awareness is one thing, winning elections in close, polarised contexts is another, analysts say, that depends on how effectively the campaign translates awareness into voter turnout<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Voter Adhikar Yatra has the support of all INDIA bloc constituents, recently DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was also spotted in Bihar Lending support to Congress\u2019s Rahul Gandhi,  Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday  joined his Voter Adhikar Yatra\u2019 with senior Congress leader KC Venugopal calling him a \u201csteadfast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":356123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2915,15025,36,1801],"tags":[15940,16003,15620,18067,17992,16687,19726],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":356125,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356122\/revisions\/356125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/356123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}