"Name from era of slavery": Uma Bharti demands renaming UP's Shahjahanpur

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 18 (ANI): Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Uma Bharti has demanded renaming the Shahjahanpur district in Uttar Pradesh after a freedom fighter or cultural icon, accusing the opposition of backing "names from the era of slavery" out of vote greed.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Bharti said, "This is the wish of the people... The city should be named after a freedom fighter, a saint or a legend who worked for cultural awakening. They (opposition) don't have anything in them apart from the greed of the vote, otherwise they wouldn't support a name from the era of slavery," she added.
Also, responding to Rahul Gandhi's recent allegations against the Election Commission, Bharti said the poll body listens to complaints and acts accordingly.
She remarked, "The Election Commission listens and acts on every complaint. If the people are not giving them votes, they must analyse themselves."
Meanwhile, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, along with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, among others, kick-started the party's 16-day 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Sasaram here on Sunday in the poll-bound Bihar.
The Yatra, launched in protest against the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar and alleged 'vote chori', will culminate in Patna on September 1 after covering more than 1,300 km across over 20 districts in 16 days.
Several leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, Kanhaiya Kumar, and others, participated in the Yatra on Sunday.
During the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar's Sasaram, the RJD president and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav called for removing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in Bihar, referring to the party as "thieves" who are harming democracy by stealing the people's votes.
"Choro ko hataiye, BJP ko bhagaiye, aur hume jitaiye, (Remove the thieves, make the BJP run away, help us win)," Lalu Yadav said.
He urged Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge to stand united with the RJD, along with his son Tejashwi Yadav, to "uproot the BJP and throw them away". "At any cost, do not let the BJP, which is a thief, come to power. Everyone, stand united, and together, Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav, uproot them and throw them away. Save democracy," the RJD chief added.
Rahul Gandhi and RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav ended the day one of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Aurangabad district in the evening. (ANI)