'Voter Adhikar Yatra' to conclude in Patna on Sep 1: Khera

Dhaka: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday disclosed that Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in Bihar will conclude on September 1 with a “huge procession” in the state capital.

Khera, who heads the party’s media and publicity department, addressed a press conference at Dhaka in East Champaran district.

“The Yatra has been like a religious pilgrimage in which people of all faiths are taking part. On September 1, it will conclude with a procession in which our leaders will march from Gandhi Maidan in Patna to Babasaheb Ambedkar‘s statue. It will not be the end, but the beginning of a new Yatra (journey) towards protecting our democracy”, he said.

Earlier, the party had said a rally was planned at Gandhi Maidan on the day.

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Responding to a question, Khera said, “The people of the country have been distracted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rhetoric for long. But they are now fed up. Hence, we are confident that the slogan ‘Vote Chor Gaddi Chhor’ will have a greater impact than ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ (coined by Gandhi in 2019 when BJP-led NDA swept Lok Sabha polls)”.

Khera also charged RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with “trying to give cover fire to Modi” by suggesting that people switch from soft drinks, set to be costlier following hike in tariffs by the US, to ‘shikanji’.

RJD MP Sanjay Yadav, who was also present at the same press conference, made a sarcastic remark, “Perhaps Bhagwat does not want those who have sold tea (Modi). He should rest assured that we drink shikanji as well as milk and water drawn from rivers Ganga and Gandak”.

He also took potshots at the Prime Minister for announcing “a rail factory in his home state of Gujarat” and fobbing off Bihar with trains “which would serve no purpose than ferrying cheap labour”.

CPI(ML) Liberation MLC Shashi Yadav claimed the Yatra, which has two more days to go, has received an overwhelming response from women who “have been the worst sufferers of wrongful deletion of names from electoral rolls in the name of special intensive revision”.

She said, “There are countless women born in Nepal who got married to men residing in Bihar. How can they bring birth certificates of their parents as demanded by the EC. They now tell us that in the past they had voted for the NDA, on some occasions defying the wishes of husbands and in-laws”.

“But now they have had enough. They are determined to vote out this government, which seems to be on a ventilator and incapable of providing them safety and security, as the horrific rape and murder of a girl inside her school at Patna has shown”, alleged the MLC.

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