• Source:JND
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Bihar Bandh: Kanhaiya Kumar, a poster boy of Bihar Congress and Purnia MP Pappu Yadav, whose wife Rajnjeet Ranjan is a Rajya Sabha MP from the grand old party, were denied entry on an open van which had party leader Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and some other Mahagathbandhan leaders during Bihar bandh protests. Pappu Yadav had merged his party JAP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Videos surfaced on social media which show Kanhaiya and Pappu are being stopped from boarding the open van by the security personnel. Even the Purnia MP was seen being pushed back from the ladder of the van-turned-stage.

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.

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"NDA Attempting Vote Theft In Bihar: Rahul Gandhi

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP), warned that the pattern of electoral manipulation seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.

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

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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.

Gandhi Attacks Election Commission

Gandhi accused the Election Commission of withholding crucial voter data and booth videography from the Maharashtra Assembly elections, alleging irregularities in voter registration.

"We have come to Bihar, where people became martyrs for the Constitution. Our Constitution states that every citizen of India has the right to vote. I want to tell the people of India and Bihar that just as the Maharashtra election was stolen, an attempt is being made to steal the Bihar election in the same way. They have realised that we have understood the Maharashtra model, so now they have brought the Bihar model. I want to tell you that this is a way to snatch the votes of the poor, but they don't know that this is Bihar, and the people of Bihar will never let this happen," he said

He claimed that thousands of voters were registered in single buildings while the names of poor voters were removed, and despite repeated requests, the Commission has remained silent and even changed videography rules to "hide the truth."

(With ANI inputs)