Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday warned that the pattern of electoral manipulation seen in Maharashtra could be repeated in Bihar.

Speaking at the Bihar Bandh rally, Rahul Gandhi said, "The way there was vote theft in the Maharashtra elections, a similar attempt is being made in Bihar."

Mr Gandhi also raised questions over the rise in voter numbers between the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Maharashtra, alleging that all newly added votes went to the BJP. He claimed that the INDIA alliance's poor performance in the Maharashtra Assembly polls, despite a Lok Sabha majority, prompted a deeper data review that revealed suspicious voting patterns.

He also said that between the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, one crore new voters were added, and in the assembly elections, 10 per cent more people voted.

Speaking at the Bihar Bandh rally, Rahul Gandhi said, "Shortly after the Lok Sabha elections, assembly elections were held in Maharashtra and Haryana. In the Lok Sabha elections, the INDIA alliance got a majority in Maharashtra. But just a few months later, in the assembly elections, the INDIA alliance did poorly. We didn't say much at the time, but we started working and looking into the matter. The 21st century is the century of data, so we started studying the data. As we looked into it, we discovered that between the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, one crore new voters were added. In the assembly elections, 10 per cent more people voted. When we checked where these new voters came from, we were surprised. In every constituency where voter numbers increased, the BJP won. All the new votes went to the BJP."

Mr Gandhi accused the Election Commission of withholding crucial voter data and booth videography from the Maharashtra Assembly elections, alleging irregularities in voter registration.

"We have come to Bihar, where people became martyrs for the Constitution. Our Constitution states that every citizen of India has the right to vote. I want to tell the people of India and Bihar that just as the Maharashtra election was stolen, an attempt is being made to steal the Bihar election in the same way. They have realised that we have understood the Maharashtra model, so now they have brought the Bihar model. I want to tell you that this is a way to snatch the votes of the poor, but they don't know that this is Bihar, and the people of Bihar will never let this happen," he said

He claimed that thousands of voters were registered in single buildings while the names of poor voters were removed, and despite repeated requests, the Commission has remained silent and even changed videography rules to "hide the truth."

"In some buildings, 4,000 to 5,000 voters were registered. Meanwhile, the votes of poor people were removed. When we asked the Election Commission for the voter list and the videography from polling booths, they stayed completely silent. Not once, but many times, we asked them. The law says we should be given the voter list. The law also says we should get the booth videography. But to this day, we haven't received the voter list from Maharashtra. They even changed the videography rules, because they want to hide the truth," Mr Gandhi said.

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, on Wednesday led the 'Bihar Bandh' protest in Patna against the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to undertake the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections.

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.

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