Rahul Gandhi to lead Grand Alliance's Bihar protest over electoral roll row

Rahul Gandhi

The Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) will hold a massive rally today in Bihar led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against the Election Commission of India's (ECI) special intensive revision (SIR) exercise ahead of the Bihar election.

Opposition parties are cornering the state government of NDA bloc headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar by making most of people’s anger on the issue of ‘confusion-ridden’ voter roll revision exercise and brazen cases of violent crimes.

Leaders of INDIA bloc, or the Grand Alliance as it is known in Bihar, have given a call for state-wide protests, alleging the SIR’s stringent documentation requirements and tight July 25 deadline that risk disenfranchising millions, particularly marginalised communities like Muslims, Dalits and migrant workers.

Here's what is expected in today's Bihar rally:

- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to lead the 'chakka jam' march from the income tax roundabout to the ECI's office near the assembly building in Patna at 10 am. This will mark his seventh visit to the state in the past five months.

- Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left parties will participate in the statewide protest. They have alleged the ECI's voter list revision process is biased and anti-people.

- Rahul Gandhi, is also expected to visit the family of businessman Gopal Khemka, who was shot dead outside his house near Patna's Gandhi Maidan on July 4. The murder has intensified opposition attacks on the Bihar government over deteriorating law and order. Gandhi’s visit is likely to add political weight to the opposition’s narrative as the state gears up for a heated electoral season.

- The Congress, along with its allies — RJD and Left parties — is staging the ‘chakka jam’ to oppose what they claim is a biased Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls. They allege the process is designed to suppress the votes of the poor, migrants, and marginalised communities. “This is a direct attack on the voting rights of the poor," said Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram.

- The voter list revision, launched on June 24 by the Election Commission, mandates submission of any one of 11 ID documents. The opposition fears this could disenfranchise Dalits, Mahadalits, migrant workers, and economically weaker groups. They have called the update drive a “conspiracy to block votes" in favour of the ruling alliance.