Patna: The ‘Bihar Bandh’ called by the Mahagathbandhan on Wednesday against the Election Commission’s special voter list revision exposed deep fault lines within the opposition alliance as Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav led the protest in Patna, while Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Congress youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar were denied access to Rahul Gandhi’s chariot and pushed aside by security.
LoP Rahul Gandhi arrived in Patna from Delhi, participated in the Chakka Jam protest for barely two hours, and returned to Delhi.
The controversy erupted when Pappu Yadav, who had merged his Jan Adhikar Party with the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections, was stopped by security personnel from boarding the protest vehicle with Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav.
Despite waving the Congress flag and attempting to join the top leadership, Pappu Yadav was physically pushed away in the crowd.
A similar situation was faced by Congress youth leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who was also denied entry onto the chariot.
Political observers note the irony that Pappu Yadav was the first to announce a Chakka Jam against the voter list revision, which was later taken over by Congress and RJD, overshadowing his call with a full Bihar Bandh.
Pappu Yadav, despite merging his party with Congress and seeking a Congress ticket from Purnea, was denied a ticket, with the RJD fielding Bima Bharti instead.
Pappu Yadav contested as an independent, defeating Bharti, while the Congress high command remained silent throughout the feud.
Wednesday’s events expose the fragile equations within the INDIA bloc, particularly the underlying tensions between Tejashwi Yadav and Pappu Yadav, as well as Congress’s reluctance to accommodate Pappu Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar in leadership optics despite their grassroots presence.
The Bihar Bandh, called against the alleged conspiracy to delete poor voters’ names under the guise of voter list revision, saw major roads blocked in Patna, but also highlighted internal power struggles within the opposition ranks as assembly elections approach in the state.
(IANS)
