Patna: Union Minister of State for Home and Ujiarpur MP Nityanand Rai has targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over their opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in Bihar. In a statement on August 15, Rai questioned whether foreign nationals such as Rohingyas and Bangladeshis should be allowed to participate in India’s democratic process.
“If the votes of foreign infiltrators are being cut, then why protest?” Nityanand asked, adding that the people of Bihar and the entire country deserved an answer. He also urged Tejashwi Yadav not to “mislead the people of Bihar” on the occasion of Independence Day, alleging that both RJD and Congress had a history of electoral malpractice.
Nityanand accused the opposition of attempting to stir unrest ahead of the Bihar Voter Rights Yatra, scheduled to begin on August 17, which Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are set to lead. He further called on Rahul Gandhi to use the yatra to explain how elections under Congress rule since 1951-52 allegedly saw systematic vote manipulation.
