INDIA bloc protest Bihar e-roll revision

Normal life was affected across Bihar on Wednesday as the INDIA bloc, led by Rahul Gandhi, hit the streets to enforce a bandh in protest against special intensive revision of electoral rolls ahead of the state assembly polls.
The opposition coalition, known as ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in the state, had organised the state-wide bandh on the day it was extending support to the nationwide strike called by trade unions to oppose the new labour codes.
Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, flew down to Patna, where he was joined by RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary MA Baby, CPI’s D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation’s Dipankar Bhattacharya.
The INDIA bloc bigwigs had planned to reach the Election Commission office here in a giant procession but were stopped a few yards away, in front of the Shaheed Smarak, built in memory of seven young martyrs of the Quit India Movement, right across the street from the Vidhan Sabha premises.
“Barricades had been put up to prevent the entry of the protesters into the restricted area. The situation was tackled effectively with adequate deployment of personnel at various places,” SP (Patna Central) Diksha told PTI.
Unfazed, the leaders held forth from atop an open vehicle, demanding an immediate rollback of what the opposition here has been describing as “votebandi”, rhyming with “notebandi” or demonetisation.
Gandhi spoke with a copy of the Constitution in hand, slamming the EC for “serving the BJP instead of serving the people” and alleging that there were attempts to “replicate the Maharashtra model in Bihar”.
He has been claiming that the voters’ list in the western state had been “rigged” ahead of the assembly polls held last year, which helped the BJP-led coalition achieve a landslide victory, months after being drubbed in the Lok Sabha polls. Yadav alleged that the EC has become a lapdog (‘godi aayog’) of the ruling dispensation at the Centre.
“After getting names of the poor deleted from electoral rolls, the ruling BJP will eventually try to snatch away other benefits like reservations, ration and pension,” he alleged.
Bhattacharya, whose party has the largest presence among Left parties in Bihar, said, “Today’s mammoth gathering has demonstrated that the people of Bihar will not accept the special intensive revision which is nothing short of a frontal assault on their voting rights.”
Baby said “the Election Commission is behaving like Hitler”, while D Raja coined two slogans — badlo sarkar, bachao Bihar (change the government, save Bihar) and “Nitish sarkar hatao, Tejashwi sarkar banao” (vote out the government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, let Tejashwi assume power).
Attempts at blocking trains were also reported from several other parts of the state, though East Central Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer Saraswati Chandra asserted that services were not affected anywhere. Massive traffic snarls were seen on roads, highways and bridges where the bandh supporters had placed burning tyres.
In the state capital, most private schools chose to remain closed or opted for virtual classes, though government-run institutions were open.
The BJP was predictably miffed at the virtual show of strength by the opposition.
Senior MP Sanjay Jaiswal, a former state president of the party, said, “The bandh, for which the crown princes at national and state levels had joined hands, is an attempt to threaten the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the petitions against special intensive revision filed by their own senior leaders like Manoj Jha and Mohua Moitra.”
Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said, “Rahul Gandhi seems to have come on a picnic. He must have taken note of the development that has taken place under Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar.”