Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Joins Rahul Gandhi's Voter Adhikar Yatra, Calls SIR A Crazy Decision

Chhapra/Ara/Patna: Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Voter Adhikar Yatra on Saturday and termed the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls as a "crazy decision." He implored the people to change the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state, and also asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was afraid of US President Donald Trump and the 50 per cent tariff he had imposed on Indian products. Akhilesh's presence further showcased the unity of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Rahul, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, and Congress MP K.C. Venugopal welcomed him as "a steadfast ally in our fight against the BJP's destruction of our democracy and a strong voice of the poor and the underprivileged in Uttar Pradesh and across the country." As the yatra resumed after its overnight halt at Aamdadhi Karanpura in the district also Tejashwi's younger sister Rohini Acharya, who unsuccessfully contested from the Saran Lok Sabha constituency in 2024, also joined the yatra. Crossing various places in Saran district, the yatra reached Ara, which is the headquarters of Bhojpur district and was converted into a public meeting where Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D. Raja's wife Annie Raja was also present. Addressing the people, Rahul thanked the people and youths of Bihar for lending their voice and strength to the Voter Adhikar Yatra to protect the Constitution. "Revolutions start from Bihar. The Voter Adhikar Yatra started from here as a fight to protect the right to vote, democracy and the Constitution. It is going to spread across the entire Bharat. You should now make the world hear the slogan - vote chor, gaddi chhor (vote thief, quit the throne)," Rahul said. Delivering a short speech, the Congress leader asserted that the present ruling dispensation in the country was only of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Adani and Ambani, who wanted to silence the voice of the poor. "But now the voice of the poor youths of Bihar will reverberate across the country. We will not allow a single vote to be stolen in Bihar. They stole the polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka, but we will not let them do this in Bihar," Rahul added. The Samajwadi Party chief slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commission (EC) soon after joining other INDIA leaders. He claimed that the days of the saffron party were over, and the people would remove it. Cheered loudly by the audience, Akhilesh also delivered an address that concentrated on Bihar and appealed for a change in the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime. "The Bihar election is going to be an important one. The entire country is watching it. Your enthusiasm tells that you all will oust the BJP, which is a party that uses the people and then destroys them. We expected the EC to work fairly and honestly, but it has become a 'jugaad' (problem solver) commission of the BJP," Akhilesh said. Referring to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in which the BJP won just 33 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh asserted that the people of Awadh (former name of Uttar Pradesh) have already removed it, and now it was the turn of the people of Magadh (former name of Bihar). The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister termed the SIR as "a crazy decision", which the people of Bihar were seeing and would make INDIA victorious in the polls to change the NDA government. He also promised that he and Uttar Pradesh would lend full support to Tejashwi. Akhilesh, who currently represents the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, appealed to the people that the fight was to save the right to vote, which the BJP, the government and its officers were trying to snatch away and abandon the people on the streets.