NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and his RJD ally Tejashwi Yadav were seen riding motorbikes on the eighth day of their “Vote Adhikaar Yatra” at Purnea in poll-bound Bihar.While passing through Kursela, leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made an unscheduled halt at Makhana fields near Simaria, where he interacted with farmers to learn about the cultivation process, yields, and export potential of Bihar’s famed fox nut.Farmers shared their concerns, pointing to exploitation by middlemen and the absence of fair pricing mechanisms. Gandhi noted that while Makhana fetches around Rs 700 per kg locally, it is sold abroad, including in the US, at several times that price, underscoring the lack of government support for producers. Bihar Congress president Rajesh Ram echoed the sentiment, saying that despite rising global demand, farmers and fishermen remain trapped by middlemen and denied a fair share of profits.

Why Vote Adhikaar Yatra?

The Vote Adhikaar Yatra is a mass outreach kicked off by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to highlight what he calls an attack on the core principle of democracy, the right to vote.Covering more than 1,300 kilometres across over 20 districts, the Yatra seeks to mobilise people against alleged “irregularities” in the revision of electoral rolls during the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR).The opposition has alleged that the process is being “manipulated to delete the names of poor, minorities, and migrant workers, amounting to a new form of vote theft”.