GG News Bureau
New Delhi 25th January :As the debate around “vote chori” and the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists intensifies, two opposition strategies have emerged — and diverged sharply — in Bihar and West Bengal. While Rahul Gandhi’s yatra-driven campaign in Bihar struggled to sustain momentum, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has turned the same issue into a full-blown street-level mobilisation.
In Bihar, the Congress-led opposition initially appeared to have found a rallying cry. Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra drew crowds and catchy slogans such as “Vote chor, gaddi chhod,” briefly cutting across caste equations. The campaign escalated with the release of the so-called “H-Files,” where Gandhi accused the Election Commission of acting in favour of the ruling NDA.
However, the narrative remained largely confined to press conferences and television debates. As polling began, the yatra lost steam. Gandhi’s physical absence from the campaign trail during the crucial final phase — when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah were holding multiple rallies — weakened the opposition’s charge. There were no sustained protests, sit-ins, or visible attempts to keep the issue alive on the ground. When results came in, the Congress registered yet another underwhelming performance.
Across the border in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has taken a dramatically different approach. Instead of limiting the “vote chori” allegation to speeches and statements, she has inserted herself directly into moments of confrontation. The SIR exercise has been framed not just as an administrative issue, but as a threat to identity and dignity.
On January 9, when the Enforcement Directorate raided the Kolkata office of political consultancy I-PAC, Banerjee arrived at the site within hours, confronting officials and linking the action to the voter list controversy. Holding documents herself, she publicly questioned whether central agencies were being used to intimidate political opponents ahead of elections.
This instinct for visible, physical politics is not new for Banerjee. From the 1993 Writers’ Building march — where police firing killed 13 protesters — to the Singur hunger strike and her dramatic appearance at the CBI office during the Narada case arrests in 2021, Banerjee has consistently taken political battles to the streets.
In the current phase, the Trinamool Congress has gone beyond protests. The party has set up neighbourhood-level “May I Help You” camps to assist voters during the SIR process, reinforcing Banerjee’s projection as a protector of ordinary citizens. She has also used humour, poetry, and personal anecdotes to frame the issue as one of identity theft rather than mere electoral malpractice.
The contrast is stark. In Bihar, “vote chori” remained a campaign slogan. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has turned it into a lived, visible conflict — keeping the issue in public view long before ballots are cast. Whether this strategy delivers electoral dividends will be known only after polling day, but for now, the street clearly belongs to her.
