The INDIA alliance’s Voter Adhikar Yatra (Right to Vote March) was launched on 17 August 2025 from Sasaram, Bihar, with the aim of strengthening people’s voices against electoral fraud and raising struggles over employment, education, health, agriculture and social justice. With its central theme of defending the universal adult franchise, the Yatra will traverse several districts of the state before concluding with a mass rally in Patna on 1 September.

Day One: Historic Beginning in Sasaram

The Yatra was flagged off at a massive public meeting in Sasaram by CPI(ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar Bhattacharya, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, VIP leader Mukesh Sahani, and other INDIA alliance leaders.

In his address, Comrade Dipankar declared that the Yatra was “not merely a march but the beginning of a movement”, with the slogan “Change the government, change Bihar” resonating across the state.

CPI(ML) leaders including State Secretary Kunal, MPs Raja Ram Singh and Sudama Prasad, MLAs Arun Singh, Ajit Kumar Singh and Shiv Prakash Ranjan, MLC Shashi Yadav, former MLA Manoj Manzil, Polit Bureau member Amar Singh, Central Committee members Santosh Sahar and Raju Yadav, former MLA Chandradeep Singh, and others were also present.

Day Two: From Aurangabad to Gaya

On 18 August, the Yatra resumed from Devkriti Marriage Hall, Aurangabad. Before setting out, Comrade Dipankar said that the march reflected the people’s anger at attempts during the State Intensive Revision (SIR) to disenfranchise voters—by declaring living citizens as “dead” and migrant workers as “outsiders”. He said the Nitish Kumar government had become a burden on the people, and they were determined to throw it off.

The Yatra passed through Rafi Ganj, Guraru, Khaira, Ahiyapur, Sultanpur, Panchananpur and Gaya, greeted by massive crowds. At Dev, Comrade Dipankar and MLC Shashi Yadav joined Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav in addressing lakhs of people.

Thousands of people raised spirited slogans of “Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod” (Election thieves, quit office) and “Inquilab Zindabad” in Guraru, Panchananpur and other centres, with active participation from peasant leaders, women’s groups and student activists. The day ended with an overnight halt at Rasalpur Cricket Ground, Gaya.

Day Three: Gaya to Nawada

On 19 August, Comrade Dipankar, Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav led the Yatra from Rasalpur, Gaya. Addressing the gathering before departure, Comrade Dipankar said the march had already turned into a “mass movement”, pointing to the overwhelming response in Aurangabad and Gaya where people of all ages waited for hours to greet the procession.

At Manaini village (Gaya), leaders held a dialogue with residents, hearing grievances over smart meters, microfinance loan harassment, and exclusion from ration, pensions and welfare schemes.

Tens of thousands lined the roads as the Yatra advanced towards Nawada via Hisua, Laloonagar and Chhoti Pali. In Nawada town, the procession was welcomed up to Democracy Chowk, followed by a major public meeting at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk addressed jointly by Comrade Dipankar, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav and Mukesh Sahani.

Later, at a press conference on the IIT campus, Nawada, Comrade Dipankar—speaking alongside Congress leader Alka Lamba—recalled his week-long padyatra from Gaya to Nawada last year. He said that “Twenty years of Nitish-BJP rule has reduced Bihar to poverty, feudal oppression, unemployment, suicides under debt, and mass migration.” The ongoing wave of popular anger, he said, would defeat electoral fraud through the SIR and oust the “vote thieves.”

At a rally in Barbigha, Comrade Dipankar called upon the people to ensure the defeat of the BJP-JD(U) regime in the forthcoming Assembly elections and defend the rights of the people of Bihar.

Day Four: Sheikhpura

On 21 August, the Voter Adhikar Yatra was warmly welcomed by hundreds of ASHA workers under the banner of the Bihar Rajya ASHA Karyakarta Sangh. Comrade Shashi Yadav, CPI(ML) MLC and also the leader of the All India Scheme Workers Federation, led the ASHA workers and greeted the Yatra.

The ASHA workers, rejecting attempts at mass disenfranchisement, strengthened the call for dignified jobs and wages for all. It is pertinent to note that just a few days earlier, on 12 August, thousands of ASHA workers had taken to the streets of Patna demanding immediate steps to increase their honorarium in line with the August 2023 agreement. The 31-day indefinite strike in 2023 by around one lakh ASHA workers and facilitators across Bihar had compelled the government to agree to pay them as “honorarium” rather than as a “reward” (paritoshik).

The Yatra, embodying Bihar’s hunger for change and determination to defend universal adult franchise, passed through the streets of Sheikhpura as thousands of people from all walks of life welcomed the convoy led by Comrade Dipankar and Tejashwi Yadav.

Day Five: Munger to Naugachhia

On 22 August, the Yatra covered the stretch from Munger to Naugachhia. Before setting out, local comrades in Munger gave a warm send-off, reminding the leaders of the core demands of women scheme workers and the restoration of the old pension scheme for all sections of government employees. A memorandum by the National Movement for Old Pension Scheme, Bihar, was handed to Comrade Dipankar.

As the Yatra progressed, it also engaged with victims of the BPSC paper leak and the teacher recruitment scam, who have endured police repression and imprisonment, and who continue their struggle for justice..

Day Six: Naugachhia to Purnea

On 23 August, the Yatra proceeded from Naugachhia to Purnea via Kursela and Katihar. Despite floods in the region, people gathered across the route to greet the Yatra and express their desire and resolve for change. In a couple of places, INDIA alliance leaders also interacted with makhana growers and workers, who earn a pittance after months of hard labour while profits go to food processing industry owners and exporters outside Bihar. CPI(ML) MLA and Leader of the Party Legislative Group, Mahboob Alam, also joined the Yatra during this stretch.

Comrade Dipankar, exposing the lies being spread by Prime Minister Modi in Gaya, said that under the ongoing SIR in Bihar, not a single Bangladeshi infiltrator has been caught so far. Yet the Prime Minister continues to lie repeatedly in an attempt to mislead the people. While in the name of SIR, the names of migrant workers, women, and minorities are being struck off the voter list, Modi is making a failed attempt—just like in the Jharkhand elections—to raise the bogey of “Bangladeshi infiltration.”

He added that the reality is that not a single piece of evidence of infiltration has surfaced so far. Despite this, the government remains engaged in disinformation. This entire exercise is a conspiracy to disenfranchise people of their voting rights. In this situation, the people of Bihar must remain vigilant and fight for every vote.

The Voter Adhikar Yatra will cover 1,300 km in three phases, passing through Supaul, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi, Bettiah, Chapra, Arrah, and finally reaching Patna on 1 September for a grand concluding rally.