Rahul Gandhi in Bihar today for third time in 3 months as Congress steps up EBC push

Gandhi’s visit is also being seen as an attempt to motivate party workers to rally around the troika of young leaders — Kanhaiya, AICC Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru and new Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram.

Kanhaiya, in particular, could get a major boost with Gandhi joining his yatra in his hometown. The party’s push for his leadership suggests it is trying to come out of the shadow of its dominant alliance partner, RJD. The Congress has three MPs and 19 MLAs in Bihar.

While the Congress has been trying to reach out to EBCs, Dalits and Muslims through Samvidhan Bachao meets, the main focus seems to be on EBCs.

Constituting 36.1 per cent of Bihar’s population, EBCs are the state’s largest social group. The Congress has made it a point to commemorate subaltern heroes from the group at the Samvidhan Bachao meets.

All India Congress Committee secretary Sushil Kumar Pasi, one of the main organisers of Monday’s Samvidhan Bachao meet at Patna, told The Indian Express: “We will commemorate our freedom struggle heroes of the Salt March. One of them is Budddhu Nonia, an EBC, who had participated in the salt movement in Bihar and was killed by the British. Rahul Gandhi will also remember other such heroes from different social groups. We want to send the message that while people from OBC, EBC and minority communities played a key role in the Independence movement, the Constitution gives these communities empowerment.”

Bihar Congress spokesperson Gyan Ranjan Gupta said: “It is a matter of grave concern that the state has only 6.11 per cent graduates. Worse still, only 4.2 per cent of EBCs are graduates. There are only 0.03 per cent doctors and 0.31 per cent engineers among EBCs. This is telling data from the Bihar government’s own caste survey report.”

The Bihar Congress, in a bid to revamp its structure, recently replaced Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Prasad Singh as Bihar Congress president with Rajesh Kumar, a Dalit leader and the MLA from Kutumba. Earlier, Allavaru replaced Mohan Prakash as AICC Bihar in-charge.