Patna (Bihar) [India], August 2 (ANI): Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, responding to the Mahagathbandhan’s planned rally, said the alliance will realise the ground reality in Bihar as they go “village to village.”
Manjhi’s remark comes after Tejashwi Yadav announced a post-Rakshabandhan campaign, with Rahul Gandhi set to launch a 17-day outreach in the state from August 9.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Manjhi said, “Let them hold the rally. It’s a good thing. When they go village to village, they will find out what the atmosphere is like in Bihar.”
In a recent development, Union Minister Giriraj Singh, however, rejected these claims and questioned the credibility of the protestors.
“What will those who defamed the entire state say? Whether Rahul Gandhi holds the rally or Tej Pratap Yadav does, it will make no difference. The people of Bihar have decided that only an NDA government will be formed,” he told media reporters.
At a press conference on July 30, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav announced that the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha would kick off the election campaign in Bihar shortly after Rakshabandhan, with other constituents of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ likely to join the effort.
He also added that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is set to launch a 17-day campaign in poll-bound Bihar starting August 9, aimed at protesting the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state’s voter rolls.
Meanwhile, on July 24, Workers of Congress-affiliated National Student Union of India (NSUI) protested against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar on Thursday. The workers were subsequently sprayed with water cannons and detained in Patna while trying to move the barricades set up by the police.
Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan, present at the protest, slammed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led state government for being unable to provide answers over rising unemployment, saying that the state has descended into “a situation of anarchy and lawlessness.”
“The youth are asking for jobs and employment and are against migration. There is a situation of anarchy and lawlessness in Bihar. The government is unable to give answers and explanations, so now the Congress is left with no option but to protest,” the Congress leader told ANI here.
Patna’s Additional District Magistrate – Law and Order (ADM) Govind Pandey, also present at the site of the protest said that the road needs to be cleared otherwise, school buses will be blocked, pointing out that an ambulance is already stuck in the back due to the protest.
Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, comprising the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, aims to continue its tenure in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, comprising the RJD, Congress, and left parties, seeks to oust Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition’s INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2. (ANI)
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