'Rahul Gandhi is not coming to seek votes, but to reach out to people for awareness of their democratic rights.'
Rajesh Ram, the soft spoken Bihar Congress president, has suddenly become the most sought after leader in poll bound Bihar ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 16-day Vote Adhikar Yatra (Right to Vote March) from Sasaram on Sunday, August 17.
Rahul Gandhi's yatra will cover nearly 1,300 km passing through over a dozen districts -- Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, Nalanda, Sheikhpura, Munger, Katihar, Purnia, Supaul, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, West Champaran, Saran and Patna.
The yatra will culminate in a public meeting at Patna's Gandhi Maidan on September 1.
"We are seriously fighting for people's rights. It is not a fight for the party, what matters most is the people," Rajesh Ram tells Rediff Senior Contributor M I Khan.
How is the mood in the Congress party in Bihar a day ahead of Rahul Gandhi's Vote Adhikar Yatra?
Thousands of Congress leaders, workers and supporters are upbeat and eagerly waiting for Rahul Gandhi's Vote Adhikar Yatra.
Never before has Rahulji led such a yatra in Bihar for mobilisation of the people.
It is not only a yatra of the Congress party, but of all allies of the Mahagathbandhan. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Left leaders will be part of it.
It seems the Congress is aggressive ahead of Rahul Gandhi's yatra.
Rahulji is not coming to seek votes, he is coming to speak to the people about their democratic rights which are being threatened by the BJP-led NDA government.
Rahul Gandhi's Yatra is to ensure that the people get their rights.
We are seriously fighting for people's rights. It is not a fight for the party, what matters most is the people.
We are hopeful that Rahul Gandhi's yatra will expose the conspiracy of 'Vote Chori' and create awareness among the people.
Rahulji's yatra will provide us an opportunity to intensify our fight against vote fraud and how the BJP has been using the Election Commission, which is a Constitutional body.
After the Supreme Court's interim order on Special Intensive Revision (SIR), widely seen as a setback for the Election Commission and the central government, will SIR be the main issue of the yatra?
In the name of SIR, the Election Commission has deleted the names of 65 lakh (6.5 million) voters.
We are fighting against SIR and the apex court has accepted our evidence that was reflected in the interim order.
The voters' names were deleted on false ground and arbitrarily.
Is it not true that those declared dead and their names deleted are alive? We will visit many such voters and will drink tea with them during the yatra.
The names of poor migrant workers were removed wrongly without informing them as they are working outside Bihar to earn their livelihood.
Home Minister Amit Shah recently claimed that the Congress is opposing SIR because they fear the loss of infiltrators' names in the voter list.
If Amit Shah is so serious and concerned about infiltrators' names in the voter list, who has stopped him from identifying and take action against them?
His party the BJP is in power for over 11 years but he has been blaming the Opposition instead of taking action.
We challenge Amit Shah to publish the list of infiltrator voters with their names, address and action taken against them.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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