Patna/Darbhanga: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s brief but high-voltage visit to Bihar on Thursday culminated in two government cases being registered against him in Darbhanga, after he defied local authorities and held an unsanctioned event at Ambedkar Hostel.
The day unfolded with tension between Gandhi and the district administration, which had denied permission for his ‘Shiksha Nyaya Samvad’ programme to be held at the hostel, citing state policy against political events on educational premises. Officials had instead approved Town Hall as the designated venue.
Undeterred, Gandhi led his convoy towards Ambedkar Hostel after addressing students at Nagendra Jha Stadium inside Lalit Narayan Mithila University campus. His convoy was intercepted by police at Khanqah Chowk, but Gandhi stepped out of his vehicle and, flanked by supporters, walked to the hostel.
In videos released by the Congress, Gandhi can be seen confronting officials who attempted to persuade him to halt the march. “This is a democratic country, not a dictatorship. You have your job, I have mine. If you want to stop me, stop me,” Gandhi is heard telling officers, including Rural SP Alok Kumar and SDPO Amit Kumar, as they walked beside him.
Despite repeated requests from the district officials to return to the approved venue, Gandhi pressed on, telling the officers, “I have given a commitment to the students that I am coming. You do your work, stop me if you can.” At the hostel, he addressed the gathering, asserting that “no force in the world can stop me because the people’s power is behind me.”
Later in Patna, while attending a special screening of the film Phule, two FIRs were filed against him in Darbhanga for allegedly violating prohibitory orders and holding an unauthorised gathering.
Darbhanga District Magistrate Rajiv Roshan had earlier warned that political events would not be permitted inside educational institutions and said legal action would be taken against violations.
During his address at the hostel, Gandhi renewed his party’s pitch for an effective caste census and called for additional demands including reservations in private educational institutions and stricter enforcement of the SC-ST sub-plan. He also claimed that the Prime Minister’s recent announcement on caste census was driven by mounting public pressure.
The episode has further sharpened the political narrative in Bihar, as Gandhi seeks to intensify his outreach in the state ahead of the assembly elections, while the state administration asserts its authority over political conduct in public spaces.
