New Delhi: Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will send a political message to the Dalits and OBCs in Bihar when he addresses a ‘Samvidhan Samman Sammelan’ in Patna on January 18.
The conclave is part of a series of events the Congress leader had been addressing across the country over the past months to target the ruling BJP and stress the need to save the Constitution but the event in Patna will also be used to review the organisation and plan agitational programs in the NDA-ruled state, said party insiders.
Rahul Gandhi will also interact with the representatives of the students who recently staged massive protests over the cancellation of recruitment exams.
"There will be a lot of social organisations at the Patna conclave. Obviously, the issue of social justice and the rights of the marginalised groups will be discussed there. Our leader’s message will reach across the state which is known for its politics of social justice and transformation,” Congress Legislative Party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan told ETV Bharat.
The Youth Congress led by its chief Uday Bhanu Chib as well as Congress-backed Independent MP Pappu Yadav had supported the student protests in a big way to target Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s BJP-backed state government. Later the Bihar Congress unit along with the Left parties also came out on the streets to support the students as rival Jan Suraj leader Prashant Kishore also joined the issue.
"When our leader will come here the organisational issues will also be discussed and so will the future agitational programs. The Congress has always supported the students and will continue to do so," said Khan.
Rahul Gandhi’s Bihar visit comes in the background of his renewed attack on the saffron party’s alleged attempts to discredit the Constitution by questioning the relevance of the country’s Independence in 1947. "The need to save the Constitution is being felt across the country and Bihar is no exception," said Khan.
"The BJP and its corporate friends want to subvert the Constitution and end its features that provide social justice and welfare to the marginalised groups. Rahul Gandhi is the voice against this onslaught on the Constitution. He had been flagging that the Constitution which guarded the rights of ordinary citizens for 70 years needs to be protected. We have to ensure the success of the Patna conclave and take Bihar's voice to the world," All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary Chandan Yadav told ETV Bharat.
Congress leaders said the state government was concerned over the January 18 conclave and was forcibly removing the banners of Rahul Gandhi put up by the party workers along the key roads in Patna.
"This will be Rahul Gandhi's first visit to Bihar after becoming the Leader of Opposition (LoP) and we hope it will boost the state unit," said state unit chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
Singh added that the Lok Sabha MP will also inaugurate staff quarters at the party office Sadaqat Ashram. Organisation in Bihar had been a concern for long as Congress became a junior partner to RJD, said party insiders.
