PATNA: Reacting to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's participation in the 'Bihar Bandh' protest on Wednesday, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary dismissed the protest, saying, "Gandhi came here just for a picnic, he has nothing to do with Bihar's problems."
Gandhi joined RJD's Tejashwi Yadav in Patna against the ongoing electoral roll revision drive by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
"These leaders just come and go, they contribute nothing to the state's development," said Samrat Choudhary, adding, "If they had truly looked around Bihar, they would have seen the progress. Even the airport has been upgraded. Rahul Gandhi won 99 seats and started believing they had won the whole country. This is not a monarchy but a democracy. The Gandhi family's monarchy is over."
State Minister Ashok Chaudhary also questioned Rahul Gandhi's late activism. "If Rahul Gandhi had shown this much interest 10 years ago, the condition of Congress in Bihar would have been different. Now, just before elections, he suddenly remembers backwards and Dalit voters," he said.
Defending the ECI's actions, he added, "Anyone eligible should not be left out, and the ineligible should be removed. The system should be transparent."
The protest also saw slogans like "Election Commission Murdabad" being raised, prompting a sharp rebuttal from JD-U national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad. (IANS)
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