New Delhi, 9 July

After Congress MP Rahul Gandhi alleged that the NDA government is attempting a vote theft in Bihar, BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain said that the people of INDIA Bloc and Mahagathbandhan have made the Election Commission a "soft target" and are continously targeting it.

Speaking to ANI, Hussain also alleged that since the 'Bihar Bandh' has started, the party workers have harassed people.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav participated in Bihar Bandh today.

"These people of the INDI alliance and people of Mahagathbandhan are targeting the Election Commission. They have made the Election Commission a soft target. Today, a Bihar bandh on the verification of voter rolls is called. Since morning, they have started this work by harassing people on the road, burning tires, and causing trouble to the people. People are not with them, but only workers of Congress and RJD are doing all these things," Hussain said.

The BJP leader further claimed that the people of Bihar have "completely rejected" the Bihar Bandh, and that both the Congress and RJD leaders have joined the rally for a "photo shoot."

"The public has completely rejected the Bihar bandh. Rahul Gandhi and Tejaswi Yadav will definitely go for this photo shoot, but the common people have rejected their Bihar bandh. Nobody is with them. Everyone knows that the Election Commission is a constitutional body that has been conducting elections for so many years," Shahnawaz Hussain said.

Earlier today, Rahul Gandhi 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."

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."