Protests erupt against special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar

Protests erupted across Bihar on Wednesday against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, as part of which top leaders of the opposition Mahagathbandhan, including Rahul Gandhi, converged in the state capital.

The INDIA bloc, of which the Mahgathbandhan is a part, is supporting the nationwide 'chakka jam' called in protest against the four labour codes, but in Bihar the opposition coalition has chosen to also highlight its reservations against the SIR, which allegedly threatens to "disenfranchise a substantial number of voters", barely a few months ahead of the assembly polls, to "benefit" the ruling NDA.

Gandhi was joined by RJD's Tejashwi Yadav besides D Raja, MA Baby and Dipankar Bhattacharya, general secretaries of CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(ML) respectively, in a giant procession that commenced at the Income Tax crossing, around a hundred metres from vital installations such as the Patna High Court, besides offices of many political parties.

The leaders stood atop an open vehicle in the midst of a vast sea of workers of the parties helmed by them, as a march was staged to the Election Commission's office, about a kilometre and a half away.

The procession met with barricades in front of the Vidhan Sabha premises, a stone's throw from the EC office, where the leaders chose to address the gathering.

Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, was all fire and brimstone as he charged the EC, "comprising persons nominated by the BJP", with "serving" the party in power and not the people, and trying to "replicate the Maharashtra model" in Bihar by tampering with the electoral rolls.

The former Congress president blamed the alleged manipulation of electoral rolls in the western state for the landslide victory of BJP-led coalition in assembly polls, "months after it was thrashed in the Lok Sabha elections".

No violent clashes were reported from any part of the city, which, however, witnessed attempts to block rail and road traffic in several parts, including the Sachivalay Railway Halt, where Independent MP from Purnea, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, a Congress supporter, had reached in the morning.

"The EC has hatched a conspiracy to deprive people, mostly Dalits and other vulnerable sections, of their voting rights," alleged Yadav, whose own constituency falls in Seemanchal region which, the BJP alleges, has been teeming with "illegal immigrants" from Bangladesh and Myanmar, accommodated by parties with an eye on "vote bank".

Burning tyres were placed on the highways in several parts of the state, throwing traffic out of gear in districts such as Muzaffarpur, Nawada, Arwal, Jehanabad and Darbhanga.

In many of these districts, the demonstrations were led by local MLAs belonging to RJD, Congress and the three Left parties.

A massive traffic snarl was also witnessed on the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, the nearly six-km-long bridge across the mighty Ganga, where burning tyres had been placed in the morning, bringing to a grinding halt the movement of light and heavy vehicles alike.