Rahul joins foot-march in Bihar

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The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha took part in the ‘Palayan roko, naukri do yatra’ (stop migration, give jobs journey), organised by the party this morning from Begusarai.

The Congress has already sounded its poll bugle in Bihar with the party holding a foot march for nearly a month now, which is being led by its leader Kanhaiya Kumar. The former JNU Students’ Union president and current NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) in-charge has been leading the foot-march since March 16 and has covered several hundred kilometres, raising the issue of unemployment and migration.

Later, while addressing ‘Samvidhan Surakhsha Sammelan’ at Srikrishna Memorial Hall in Patna, Gandhi said the ‘caste census’ would change the paradigm of development in the country and help in breaking the monopoly of a select few over everything.

He maintained that the ‘caste census’ is like the social X-Ray that would reveal everything that currently ails the system. He further said the Constitution was not just a 75-year-old document, but something that carried thousand-year-old idea of India.

The Congress leader’s Bihar visit comes at a time when the national leadership of the party arrived in Ahmedabad for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and the AICC’s national session, which will be held at the Sardar Patel National Memorial on April 8 and at the riverfront event centre on April 9, respectively.

Ahead of the march, in a social media post, Rahul said: “Bihar has always taken concrete steps against injustice. Be it the movement of Champaran Satyagraha or the revolution for social justice. Today that history is calling its people again to fight against attacks on the Constitution, against favouritism and discrimination; for economic and social equality and justice. Come, raise your voice unitedly! Join me in Patna today, from the Constitution Honour Conference!”

On Sunday, he had announced that he was coming to Begusarai in Bihar to join the padyatra, which is aimed at highlighting the perennial problem of unemployment and migration. Wear a white shirt and join me in the movement to expose the government on the issue of jobs and migration.”

This is the third time that he has visited the poll-bound state this year. He also interacted with senior leaders and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents at Sadaqat Ashram in Patna.

Last time, when Rahul visited Bihar, he had urged Dalits and marginalised sections to work hard and excel so that “each important department and ministry could have Dalits as their top leaders.”

Later, a Dalit MLA, Rajesh Kumar, was appointed as the Bihar Congress president, replacing Akhilesh Prasad Singh, an upper caste leader, who had earlier been an RJD MP and was considered close to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

According to the party insiders, the Congress is eyeing to consolidate backward community votes, which have traditionally been with the RJD and JDU.

Besides, the combined Muslim-Yadav vote bank -- making up for nearly 30 per cent -- has remained loyal to Lalu’s RJD. Bihar leaders, in a recent meeting with the party’s top brass, had also stressed for contesting the upcoming Assembly poll in an alliance.

Recently, Congress’ in-charge of Bihar Affairs, Krishna Allavaru, met Lalu Prasad at AIIMS, New Delhi, where the latter is going under rehabilitation after his surgery. After the meeting, Allavaru had said, “We wished Laluji a speedy recovery. Together, we will give the NDA a crushing defeat in the ensuing polls.”