Rahul Gandhi ducks question on naming Tejashwi Yadav as Bihar CM face

Katihar (Bihar), Aug 24 Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Sunday ducked a question on whether the Bihar Mahagathbandhan would declare Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav as its Chief Ministerial face, claiming that there was no tension and a lot of mutual respect in the alliance.

Addressing the media after taking a break from the ongoing Voter Adhikar Yatra, Gandhi also stepped up his attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI) for bias, alleging that it is not “neutral” but standing with the BJP.

Reiterating his charge of partiality against the ECI, Gandhi said, “There is an institutional attempt to steal votes in Bihar, but we will foil it. There is a partnership between the ECI, the election commissioner and the BJP.”

Gandhi said the Mahagathbandhan is focused on forcing a change in ECI’s biased conduct, but it is standing with the BJP.

Alleging that the ECI was favouring the BJP by not demanding any affidavit from their leaders who exposed bogus voters, Gandhi said that when he raised the issue of one lakh bogus voters, he was told by the poll panel to give a complaint on oath.

“The people are also seeing who the ECI is supporting,” he said.

The Congress leader said the ECI is duty-bound to give an error-free voter list, but this was not done in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka.

“You indulged in theft in Maharashtra and Haryana. We exposed ‘vote theft’ in Karnataka, but we won’t let this happen again in Bihar,” he said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also addressed the media and slammed the ECI, alleging that it is functioning like one of the BJP’s cells.

“The poll panel’s reputation has hit rock bottom, and we are holding this march to save the Constitution and protect the electors’ right to vote,” he said.

The Mahagathbandhan in Bihar has planned the 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', covering 1,300 km across 20 districts, to protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, which they allege is resulting in disenfranchisement of voters in large numbers – a charge denied by the ECI.

The march is likely to conclude in Patna on September 1, about two months before the over seven crore electors pick a new 243-member state Assembly.

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