Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav took a light-hearted dig at Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan during a press interaction on Saturday. Tejashwi dismissed Paswan’s recent barbs and reasserted his own loyalty. Tejashwi Yadav was responding to Chirag Paswan’s comment labelling him as a mere “hanger-on” of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Laughing off the remark, Tejashwi said, “Some people are Hanuman of a special person, but we are Hanuman of the public.”
The jab was a clear reference to Paswan's oft-repeated claim of being Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Hanuman’. In the past, Paswan had declared that PM Modi lived in his heart and that he didn’t even need to use the PM’s image in his campaign. “If needed, I will tear open my chest and show it,” he had famously said during the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections.
Tejashwi’s advise to Chirag to get married soon
Tejashwi cheekily advised Chirag Paswan to get married soon. “He is our elder brother. I would definitely advise him to get married quickly,” he said, with a grin.
As the crowd chuckled, Rahul Gandhi, seated beside him, added with a smile, “It is applicable for me as well.”
Rahul Gandhi alleges ‘vote theft mechanism’ in Bihar
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used the platform to allege that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had institutionalised electoral fraud in Bihar through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls.“In Bihar, SIR is an institutionalised way of vote theft. Lakhs of voters' names were deleted. The BJP has not complained once, which clearly shows the Election Commission and BJP are in partnership,” Rahul alleged, accusing the poll body of bias and calling for scrutiny of the ongoing revision process. Gandhi asserted that the opposition won't allow anyone to steal votes in Bihar. He also said that the poll body should provide the correct voters' list in Bihar, where assembly elections are due later this year.
"Our entire pressure is to change the behaviour of the Election Commission and we will not leave it. We will not let you steal the election in Bihar. You stole in Maharashtra. You stole in Haryana. In Karnataka, we clearly showed that votes were stolen. We will not let it happen here," Gandhi said.
"Election Commission said that Rahul Gandhi should give an affidavit and if he does not give the affidavit, we will not accept it. After a few days, Anurag Thakur holds a similar press conference. But the Election Commission does not ask for an affidavit," he said.
The former Congress president was also asked about the Mahagathbandhan's poll manifesto, to which he replied that they have several ideas for the farmers. Gandhi said their basic idea is to protect the farmers, and their manifesto committee is working on it.
He also asserted that all parties of the Mahagathbandhan are working unitedly to win the Bihar elections.
'Voter Adhikar Yatra successful'
Gandhi also said that his 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' is extremely successful and people are joining it organically. "It is clear that whatever we said about vote theft, crores of people of Bihar, believe and accept it. That is why you are seeing this response," he said.
The Voter Adhikar Yatra began from Sasaram on August 17 and will conclude with a rally in Patna on September 1. Congress aims to gather support against the SIR driver in Bihar through this rally
