On Saturday, August 23, 2025, during the second leg of the ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in poll-bound Bihar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, intensified his criticism of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the Election Commission of India (EC). The Congress party launched the 16-day yatra on August 17 to draw attention to what it claims are irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, an issue that has become a key point of contention ahead of the state assembly elections.
Speaking to a gathering in Katihar, a district in Seemanchal, which has a significant Muslim population, Gandhi alleged that the BJP was deliberately trying to suppress marginalized communities in the state. He accused the ruling party of wanting to keep Dalits at the “last queue” in society, pointing to what he described as systemic exclusion and social inequality fostered by the BJP’s policies. Gandhi’s speech was laced with sharp attacks on the BJP’s agenda, as he painted a picture of a party that, in his view, works to centralize power and wealth among a select group of industrialists.
“The BJP is giving the entire power and business to just two industrialists—Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani,” Gandhi claimed, criticizing the growing influence of these business magnates in the country’s economic and political spheres. He argued that this concentration of wealth and power undermines the interests of ordinary citizens and marginalizes communities already at the edges of society.
The ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ is also a direct response to the discrepancies in the electoral roll revision process in Bihar, which Congress alleges has left out millions of eligible voters, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Gandhi’s remarks sought to highlight not only electoral mismanagement but also what he sees as the BJP’s broader agenda to consolidate power at the expense of the common people. The Congress party has framed the yatra as a fight for democracy, fairness, and the protection of voter rights ahead of the crucial state elections.
