Political activity in Bihar is intensifying ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s voter rights campaign marked its third day on Tuesday. Gandhi visited Nawada, accompanied by Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance leaders. Addressing a public meeting in Nawada, Gandhi strongly criticized the BJP, alleging that the Election Commission was colluding with the BJP to steal the election. He stated that while affidavits were being demanded regarding the issue of vote theft, the people of Bihar would themselves provide affidavits to the Election Commission. He highlighted the alleged conspiracy discovered after the party’s losses in Haryana and Maharashtra following scrutiny of votes in some constituencies.
Former Janata Dal United (JDU) MLA Narendra Singh, also known as Bogo Singh, has joined the RJD. He announced this in Begusarai, stating his allegiance to the RJD. He mentioned meeting with the Leader of Opposition, Tejashwi Yadav, which led to speculation about his political move. Singh also mentioned his narrow loss in the previous election, where he lost by a margin of 333 votes, and how he felt ignored by both the NDA and Nitish Kumar during the past five years.
Meanwhile, former Union Minister Nagmani, former IPS officer Anand Mishra, and Ashutosh Kumar joined the BJP at the state BJP office in Patna. BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal, Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, along with numerous BJP leaders and workers, were present. Nagmani, his wife Suchitra Sinha, Ashutosh Kumar, the national president of the Bhumihar Brahmin Ekta Manch Foundation, and engineer Awadhesh Kumar, along with their supporters, took BJP membership.
RJD spokesperson Chitaranjan Gagan stated that the ‘Voter Rights Yatra,’ led by Tejashwi Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, has become a mass movement. The journey has been drawing massive crowds, and it has already passed through districts like Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gaya, Nawada, Nalanda, and Sheikhpura. The third phase of the journey will begin on August 21st from the Three Mohani Durga Temple in Sheikhpura.
The RJD spokesperson added that the movement aims not only for a change in government but also to protect the constitution and democracy, as well as to safeguard the right to vote. The unprecedented success of the ‘Voter Rights Yatra’ has caused significant unease within the BJP and NDA. The NDA leaders, who have allegedly been in power through vote theft, are showing signs of distress and nervousness, leading to irrational statements. The BJP and JDU are echoing the Election Commission’s language, and the Election Commission is, in turn, reflecting the BJP-JDU’s stance, thereby exposing the Election Commission.
Former Bihar minister and leader of the Vikassheel Insaan Party, Mukesh Sahani, stated that the Voter Rights Yatra is receiving immense public support. He said that the public’s anger regarding the issue of vote manipulation is evident, indicating that the people of Bihar are preparing to teach the vote thieves a lesson.
Sahani further stated that the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, seeks to steal votes, thereby undermining the constitution and democracy. The people of Bihar are determined to stop this theft. The public support for this journey and the large crowds are proof that the common people of Bihar are on the streets to establish a government of the common people.
JDU MLC and chief spokesperson Neeraj Kumar, along with other party leaders, attacked the Mahagathbandhan. In a press conference, they criticized the Congress party for a post on its official Twitter handle on August 17, 2025, in which they referred to Rahul Gandhi as a ‘Jan Nayak’. They asserted that this post insults not only the sentiments of the people of Bihar but also the great freedom fighter, socialist thinker, and true people’s leader of Bihar, Karpuri Thakur. They also said it was an insult to former Prime Minister and great socialist leader Chandra Shekhar, who had given the title of Jan Nayak to Karpuri Thakur in a party meeting held in 1978. The leaders added that titles of honor are given by the people and reflect their emotions. Karpuri Thakur was a ‘Gudri Lal’, his devotion, penance, and struggle made him a Jan Nayak.
Bihar’s Minister of Road Construction and BJP MLA from Bankipur, Nitin Navin, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav’s joint campaign. He said that the people’s opposition to these leaders was evident on the roads of Bihar, showing that the people of Bihar are no longer going to be fooled. Minister Nitin Navin said that while Rahul Gandhi is trying to portray himself as a well-wisher of Bihar, his sister is openly supporting the insult of Bihari workers in Punjab. What could be a greater display of hypocrisy?
He said that the truth of these leaders’ politics is evident to all, that they first loot and insult the people of Bihar, and then start journeys without addressing fundamental issues. He stated that when the Election Commission demands an affidavit, they disappear, which is their true politics.
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya also led the India alliance’s voter rights campaign along with Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav for the third day. Before joining the journey from Rasulpur, Gaya, he stated that the voter rights campaign has taken the form of a massive movement. He said that in the journey from Aurangabad to Gaya, thousands of people from every age group and community waited for hours on the roadside and welcomed the campaign with slogans of ‘vote thief, leave the throne’.
The JDU Youth Cell will launch the ’20 Years of Progress – Yuva Samvad’ program from August 20 to extensively publicize the achievements of the Nitish government at the booth level. Twelve teams will be dispatched on August 20, and 40 teams from the JDU Atipichda Cell will depart on August 21 for various constituencies. A preparatory meeting was held on Tuesday at the party’s state office in Patna, where all the officials of the Atipichda Cell and the Youth Cell joined virtually.
