RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday claimed that his Bihar Adhikar Yatra is drawing massive public support, with thousands turning out in Patna and other districts to back the march.
On the second day of the rally, Yadav said people across the state were expressing frustration with the current government, accusing it of fuelling corruption, extortion in block offices and police stations, and failing to curb rising crime.
“Today is the second day of the yatra… Wherever we are going, thousands of people are coming out on the streets to support this march,” Yadav told reporters.
“The entire public of Bihar is furious with the current government. Corruption has increased, extortion has increased in block offices and police stations,” he added. Yadav further said crime had reached a point where citizens did not feel safe in their own homes.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader launched the Adhikar Yatra on Tuesday, focusing on youth unemployment, women’s rights, respect for teachers, and improvements in health and education.
According to RJD MP Sanjay Yadav, the rally is covering districts that were left out during the Congress-led Voter Adhikar Yatra. “After the Voter Adhikar Yatra, some districts were left out, in which all our workers and leaders from there came and said that the districts have been left out, so Tejashwi ji took the decision to take out this yatra respecting their feelings. Secondly, Tejashwi ji is taking out this yatra with the resolution of building a new Bihar. Jobs and employment for the youth, rights for women, respect for teachers, industries should be set up in Bihar, education and health system should be better,” he told.
The march began in Jehanabad and is scheduled to conclude on September 20 in Vaishali. It will also cover Begusarai, Khagaria, and Madhepura. Ahead of its launch, Yadav said the opposition would form a “corruption-free” and “crime-free” government if voted to power.
Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh dismissed the yatra, taking a swipe at Yadav and suggesting he take his father, former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, on a tour of Bihar to see the development under the NDA.
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“Tejashwi Yadav should set out on a journey with the entire family. Show Lalu Yadav what development really means. Lalu Yadav used to tell the poor, what will you do with electricity? What will you do with roads? Take him on a road trip across the entire Bihar, then he will understand what development the pair of Nitish Kumar and PM Narendra Modi has brought to Bihar,” Singh said.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor also weighed in, branding Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Tejashwi Yadav as “expired medicines” who cannot eliminate corruption or unemployment.
“The leaders like PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi, and Tejashwi Yadav are like expired medicines. They can’t eradicate corruption, unemployment,” Kishor told reporters.
The Bihar Assembly election is due later this year. The primary contest is expected to be between the incumbent National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and the Mahagathbandhan, headed by the RJD.
In the current 243-member Bihar Assembly, the NDA holds 131 seats, with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U) 45, HAM(S) 4, and the support of 2 Independent candidates.
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