PATNA: A clear division of roles between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav was evident throughout the Voter Adhikar Yatra that concluded on Monday after covering nearly 1,300 km distance, 110 assembly constituencies spread over 25 districts of Bihar.
While Rahul mainly targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP through his ‘vote chori’ allegations, Tejashwi attacked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and his government, accusing it of copying his programmes and policies.
Tejashwi also indirectly sought to project himself as the chief ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc. “Do you want a duplicate CM or original CM?,” he asked the people during the Yatra at Ara, the district headquarters of Bhojpur, even as the Congress leader evaded to reply to a media query on the issue of CM face of the opposition alliance for the upcoming assembly polls. Tejashwi also accused Nitish Kumar of ‘copying’ policies that he had announced for the elections.
Moreover, while Rahul’s speeches mainly centred around the alleged vote theft, SIR (special intensive revision of electoral rolls) and its implications in the days to come, Tejashwi raised other issues like migration, unemployment, lack of health facilities, substandard education and issues related to farmers.
“They have defined their roles. Rahul is a leader of national repute and PM face of the Opposition, Tejashwi has his role in Bihar,” said Gangeshwar Sahni, a resident of Gaighat in Muzaffarpur, who came to Patna to participate in the concluding event of the Voter Adhikar Yatra.
The 16-day Yatra has indicated that the Opposition alliance will centre around its campaign over alleged vote theft by the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission of India.
"Vote chori slogan has become more popular among people who have been left out from the draft electoral rolls published on August 1,” said Amit Kumar Yadav, a resident of Madhepura in north Bihar.
Amit, 46, who runs a mobile repairing shop in Madhepura, came to Patna to participate in the concluding event of Voter Adhikar Yatra. “Be it youth, women, farmers or elderly people, all have supported the Yatra, which is a clear reflection of people’s anger against the double-engine government,” he said, adding that the BJP and its allies will bite its dust in the coming Bihar assembly election.
Sixty-five-year-old Rajendra Das of Bhojpur, a carpenter by profession, said, “For the first time, the united face of the Opposition has become evident on ground level. This will certainly benefit the Opposition alliance in the coming election.”
All top leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Tejashwi Yadav, Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI-ML and Mukesh Sahani of VIP travelled along with Rahul in the same vehicle. Rahul’s Voter Adhikar Yatra has also given his party a chance to come out of the shadow of RJD to some extent as his initiative has definitely energised the grand old party’s rank and file.
This became evident when hundreds of enthusiastic Congress workers with party flags in their hands and chanting slogan like ‘Chot Chor, Gaddi Chor’ participated in the concluding event of the Yatra on Monday.
Rahul’s vitriolic attack against the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners has also created a buzz in the political circles, as now he has added a new flavour to the forthcoming election through his Voter Adhikar Yatra, remarked a senior Congress leader.
“This has increased the bargaining power of Congress, and it would demand more number of seats in the coming Bihar assembly elections,” he pointed out. The kind of response Rahul got throughout the Yatra has reminded people of AICC Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru’s statement that Congress will be on the front seat and will no longer play second fiddle to the RJD.