Rahul's frequent Bihar visits a Congress tactic to score higher seat share in Mahagathbandhan? Explained
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's third visit in three months in the state comes as a strategic move in the direction towards dethroning the NDA-led government in the state, besides a gesture to support Bihar’s youth through the 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do' march.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi joined the Congress’ ongoing 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do’ march in Bihar's Begusarai district on Monday. The ‘padyatra’ is being led by NSUI national in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar. The Rae Bareli MP’s third visit in three months comes as a strategic move in the direction towards dethroning the NDA-led government in the state, besides a gesture to support Bihar’s youth.
Notably, Congress recently announced that it will be allying with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Even though it was not immediately clear if the Congress will get more seats in Bihar, the grand old party has been pushing for this in the recent past with party leaders stressing that Congress will contest the elections as an A team and not a B team.
A quest to take more seats under its wing in Bihar: Understanding Congress’ strategy
Congress leader Gandhi’s announcement of joining the yatra to support the employment agenda in Bihar also comes with a hidden indication towards pushing for more seats in their alliance with the RJD. Bihar’s Congress chief, Krishna Allavaru, earlier in March had made it clear that the party will no longer be a stooge to the RJD.
In the past, Congress had faced flak over its strategy in the Bihar elections, getting only 19 seats out of the 70 it contested in the alliance with RJD.
In a video message, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said, “Young friends of Bihar, I am coming to Begusarai on 7th April, to walk shoulder to shoulder with you in the Stop Migration, Give Jobs Yatra. The aim is to make the entire world see the sentiments of the youth of Bihar, their struggle, and their suffering. You too come wearing a White T-Shirt, ask questions, raise your voice – to put pressure on the government for your rights, to remove it. Join the White T-Shirt Movement by registering here: http://whitetshirt.in Let us together make Bihar a state of opportunities.”
Significantly, this is Gandhi’s third visit to Bihar in three months as he pushes to secure EBC, Dalit and Muslim votes ahead of the Bihar Assembly election.