Overview

• An unidentified man breached the cordon during the Purnea motorcycle rally, hugged and kissed Rahul Gandhi, and was slapped and detained as security personnel quickly intervened, according to the local SP.
• The incident occurred on Day 8 of the 16‑day, roughly 1,300‑km Voter Adhikar Yatra, which moved from Purnea to Araria and is scheduled to conclude with a rally in Patna on September 1.
• At a joint press conference in Araria, Rahul Gandhi accused the Election Commission and the BJP of colluding to remove legitimate voters, calling the Special Intensive Revision an institutionalised method of vote theft.
• Rahul Gandhi said the INDIA bloc in Bihar is working in unison and signaled a common manifesto soon, as large two‑wheeler processions with Tejashwi Yadav continued to draw sizable crowds.
• He also criticized mainstream media for under‑reporting the yatra, while the BJP labeled him arrogant for sidestepping a question on endorsing Tejashwi Yadav as the alliance’s chief ministerial face, and DMK leaders M.K. Stalin and Kanimozhi are slated to join the yatra on August 27.