Bettiah: The Mahagathbandhan’s “Voter Adhikar Yatra” entered its 13th day on Friday as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav sought to rally public support against the revision of Bihar’s electoral rolls.
Setting off from Kudiakothi in Bettiah at 8.40am, Gandhi’s convoy reached Harivatika, where he and Yadav garlanded a statue of Mahatma Gandhi. They were joined by allies including Mukesh Sahni, chief of the Vikassheel Insaan Party, CPI-ML general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, and Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram.
Large crowds turned out along the route as Gandhi and Yadav waved from an open-top jeep before embarking on a 22km roadshow through the town, passing Moharram Chowk, Ajanta Cinema, Sagar Pokhara Chowk and Nautan Bazaar before heading towards Gopalganj.
The Congress leader later adjusted his schedule, shifting his overnight halt from Siwan’s Daraunda to Ekma in Saran district, where the yatra is expected to arrive around 7.30pm. On Saturday the procession will move towards Bhojpur, culminating in a rally at Ara where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is expected to join.
The Mahagathbandhan, an alliance of opposition parties in Bihar, has described the campaign as a direct outreach to voters amid concerns that revisions to the rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process could disenfranchise poorer communities.
