Bihar bandh: Rahul reaches Patna to join protests
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Patna: Bihar witnessed widespread disruptions on Wednesday as the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) staged a bandh to protest the ongoing revision of the state’s voter list, alleging it threatens the rights of marginalised communities.
The statewide protest, led by the RJD and Congress, brought traffic to a standstill in several districts.
In Muzaffarpur, RJD workers blocked Zero Mile Chowk, halting movement on roads linking Darbhanga and Motihari. Similar scenes played out in Darbhanga, where the Namo Bharat train was stopped, and in Jehanabad, where student activists disrupted rail services for hours.
RJD student leader Chandan Kumar said the bandh aimed to “protect” the fundamental rights of Bihar’s people. RJD’s Premchandra, alias Bholu Yadav, alleged the revision was designed to disenfranchise weaker sections.
Protesters burnt tyres, blocked roads, and raised slogans like “Vote Bandi will not work” and “Down with the anti-poor government”.
In Purnea, vehicle movement was limited as police were stationed at key points. RJD MLA Mukesh Roshan noted that essential services such as ambulances and school buses were exempted from the strike.
The Grand Alliance plans to march to the Election Commission office near the Bihar Assembly, with security tightened along the Income Tax Golambar route.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi arrived in Patna to lead the agitation alongside RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav. It is Gandhi’s seventh visit to Bihar in six months—signalling the party’s intensified push ahead of the upcoming Assembly polls.
The voter list revision, launched on June 24 by the Election Commission of India, requires updated ID documentation for voters. Opposition parties argue the process may disproportionately affect migrants, Dalits, Mahadalits, and the poor, calling it a deliberate attempt to restrict voting rights.
Several Muslim organisations, including Imarat-e-Sharia and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, extended support to the bandh, calling the revision an attack on constitutional guarantees.
While the Grand Alliance has framed the bandh as a defence of democracy, the ruling NDA has dismissed it as mere “political drama”.
(inputs from IANS)
