PATNA: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was stopped by police while trying to enter the Ambedkar Hostel in Bihar’s Darbhanga district, where he was to interact with students of SC/ST, OBC and EBC under the party’s ‘Siksha Nyay Samvad’.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi’s vehicle was stopped outside the hostel by police personnel deployed at the site. While workers of the Congress staged a protest at the entrance gate, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha remained seated in his car for a considerable amount of time.
A verbal altercation broke out between district administration officials and Congress workers over the opening of the entrance gate to the Ambedkar Hostel. Officials informed that the venue had been shifted to the Town Hall citing security concerns. However, Congress leaders insisted on holding the programme at the originally planned venue.
As police personnel did not open the entrance gate, Rahul got down from his car and walked to the hostel where a large number of students were waiting for him. Later interacting with students, Rahul said, “Mujhe kayar samjha tha kya? Fire hun mein (Did they consider me a coward? I am like fire)”.
Initially he reached the District Town Hall, the venue shifted by the district administration. But later he decided to reach the Ambedkar Hostel where the programme was fixed earlier. This led to a chaotic situation in the divisional headquarters down.
Rahul alleged that the double engine government in Bihar and at the Centre has failed to deliver justice to SC/ST students. He demanded reservation for the students in private educational institutions and removal of 50 per reservation cap.
Expressing his anguish over police’s action, Gandhi said, “India is a democratic country. It is run by the Constitution and not dictatorship. No one can stop us from raising our voice for social justice and education.”
The Congress leader said that his party would continue its fight to secure reservations in private educational institutions across the country. “Bihar police tried to stop me. But they couldn’t do so because youths of the country are behind me,” he told the gathering.
He reiterated the party’s three key demands: conducting a caste census, implementing reservations in private educational institutions, and enforcing the SC/ST sub-plan.
After Darbhanga, Rahul left for Patna’s party headquarters in Sadaquat Ashram where he watched the movie, Phule.
Reacting to Darbhanga district authority’s action to stop Rahul Gandhi to enter Ambedkar Hostel, Congress spokesperson Ajay Dubey said in Patna that the district officials were acting at the behest of BJP-JD(U) led government. “This is not fair as venue was decided much earlier,” he told the media.
He alleged that hundreds of students belonging to the SC/ST, OBC and EBC categories were denied entry into Darbhanga by the district officials. “Our leader wants to interact with SC/ST students. What is wrong in it? In a democratic set up, everybody has the liberty to interact with people,” he added.