To save democracy: Oppositionn leaders on ‘Bihar Bandh’ over voter list revision ahead of Assembly polls
PATNA — The Bihar Bandh called by the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) — comprising the Congress, RJD, and Left parties — against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Voter List Revision (SIR) witnessed widespread participation and statewide disruptions on Wednesday.
The Opposition-led Mahagathbandhan termed the statewide ‘Bihar Bandh’ a move “to save democracy.”
In Patna, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, VIP chief Mukesh Sahani, and other senior Mahagathbandhan leaders led a protest march from the Income Tax roundabout to the Election Commission office via Veer Chand Patel Path.
The leaders initially marched on foot, but due to the swelling crowd of supporters, they continued the rally in an open vehicle.
Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, along with Congress workers, blocked trains at the Secretariat Railway Station, disrupting rail services. Yadav alleged that the voter verification exercise was a “conspiracy to remove crores of voters” from the rolls.
The bandh had a noticeable impact across Seemanchal and other politically sensitive districts.
In Katihar, Grand Alliance workers blocked NH-31 and State Highway-77 near Kursela, leading to traffic disruptions and long queues.
In Vaishali, under RJD MLA Dr Mukesh Roshan, major roadblocks were set up at Gandhi Setu and Ramashish Chowk, choking traffic on key national highways.
In Danapur and Maner areas of the Patna district, protesters burned tyres and raised slogans like “Vote ban will not work” and “We are Hindustani, we want our citizenship,” while blocking NH-30.
In Barh, agitators blocked NH-31, alleging that the poor were being unfairly targeted and excluded from the electoral process.
The SIR, which mandates voters to submit specific documents for verification, has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition parties in Bihar, which call the move anti-poor, anti-migrant, and a tool for voter suppression ahead of the Assembly elections, due in three months.
The protest, spearheaded by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and other alliance partners, is aimed at halting the ongoing voter list verification process, which Opposition leaders fear is designed to disenfranchise voters from marginalised communities.
The Opposition has been raising its concern over the process in which 78 million voters would have to establish they are genuine citizens in a matter of weeks. According to the Congress, in a state like Bihar where poverty and low educational levels result in poor awareness on documentation, nearly 30 million voters would have to provide 11 documents, rather than the commonly available ration cards, Aadhaar cards or voter IDs to prove their citizenship. — IANS
