Mahagathbandhan will not allow Bihar elections to be rigged: Rahul Gandhi in Patna

Rahul Gandhi, along with other Opposition leaders, led a protest march atop a vehicle from Income Tax Golambar.

With the State Assembly elections just months away, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi once again referred to the Maharashtra election-- alleging that the election was rigged in the western state and a similar attempt is being made in Bihar. Bihar will go to polls later this.

Gandhi, who is  in Patna, is partaking in the state-wide bandh called by Opposition parties over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls,new labour code and deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar.

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.

Independent MP from Purnea, Pappu Yadav, joined the demonstrators at the Sachiwalay Halt railway station, raising slogans like "Chunav Aayog hosh mein aao" (Election Commission, come to your senses).

Pappu Yadav's supporters blocked rail and road traffic in several parts of Patna as well as in other parts of the state, including Araria, Purnea, Katihar and Muzaffarpur. Speaking to reporters in Patna, he said, "The Election Commission, through its special intensive revision of electoral rolls, is snatching voting rights from migrants, Dalits, Mahadalits, and poor voters. It's a conspiracy to block votes ahead of the Bihar assembly polls due later this year."

Rail and road traffic were disrupted in parts of Bihar as workers of opposition parties hit the streets to enforce a statewide bandh called by the Mahagathbandhan.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India said that it is most likely that the exercise of the collection of Enumeration Forms will be completed well before the last day of collection.

According to ECI, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is progressing well, with 3,70,77,077 Enumeration Forms, which is 46.95 per cent of the total of 7,89,69,844 (nearly 7.90 crore) electors in Bihar, collected (at 6:00 PM) in the first 14 days since the issuance of SIR instructions on June 24.