Bihar Bandh against "conspiracy" to "de-franchise" more than 2 cores voters, says CPI (M) leader Hannan Mollah

Speaking with ANI, Mollah said, "Along with the all-India Bandh, trade Union Bandh, Kisaan Bandh, the Bihar political party has given a special call for Bandh against the conspiracy to de-franchise more than two crore voters in Bihar," Mollah said.

"The voter list is yearly updated, but now it's being weaponised to question citizenship. Asking for the birth certificate of voters' parents is unconstitutional... This is a clear attack on universal franchise," he added.

On the other hand, UP Minister Jaiveer Singh said, "The opposition parties are adopting various tactics to gain popularity before the Bihar elections. "

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, on Wednesday led the 'Bihar Bandh' protest in Patna against the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to undertake the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.

Rahul Gandhi warned that the pattern of electoral manipulation seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.

Speaking at the Bihar Bandh rally, Rahul Gandhi said, "The way there was vote theft in the Maharashtra elections, a similar attempt is being made in Bihar."

Gandhi also raised questions over the rise in voter numbers between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra, alleging that all newly added votes went to the BJP. He claimed that the INDIA alliance's poor performance in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, despite a Lok Sabha majority, prompted a deeper data review that revealed suspicious voting patterns.

He also said that between the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, one crore new voters were added, and in the assembly elections, 10 per cent more people voted.

Several senior leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, including CPI General Secretary D Raja, CPI (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Kanhaiya Kumar, and Sanjay Yadav, also participated in the protest. (ANI)