Patna Rally: BJP Leaders Allege Paid Crowds and Mock Opposition
Patna, November 1: A war of words has broken out over the Indi alliance rally set to take place in Patna today. Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have taken aim at the opposition alliance, claiming the rally is designed to deceive the people. Bihar minister Ram Kripal Yadav, Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Saraogi and West Bengal minister Dilip Ghosh have each questioned the opposition's allegations and the rally's core issues.
Taking a dig at the Indi alliance's rally, Bihar minister Ram Kripal Yadav said members of a Ramleela troupe were gathering at Ramlila Maidan to perform Ramleela. He asked who would believe the claims being spread among the public that votes had been stolen. He said the opposition does not trust even a person holding a constitutional post and was also raising questions about Lord Ganesha.
Yadav went on to say that every opposition leader belongs to the same Ramleela troupe. Whether it is Tejashwi Yadav or any other leader, he said, all of them move under Rahul Gandhi's leadership. He compared the opposition leaders to Ravana and asserted that the public would defeat every one of them at the polls.
Saraogi too raised objections to the opposition's rally. He cited the remarks of External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at the G20 global platform, stressing that deliberate attacks on energy, trade, shipping and infrastructure were not simple coincidences. In his view, they formed part of a deliberate plan aimed at affecting global prices.
He added that traders typically seek to recover a full year's losses during the festival season, yet several trade associations were now questioning the timing of the rally. Saraogi accused the opposition of highlighting issues that were not the genuine problems facing the country, calling it an attempt to create a false narrative among citizens.
Dilip Ghosh, West Bengal's minister, also commented on the opposition's show of unity. He said people know which party is doing what kind of politics, and that public support becomes clear over time. He remarked that the opposition parties had taken a long time to muster the courage to hold a joint rally.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, Ghosh alleged that opposition leaders had long been harassing traders in the name of rallies and protests. He said the opposition was urging people to shop on their way home after the rally in an effort to mislead them. Ghosh also claimed that opposition parties bring people to rallies by paying them, and that therefore people would not heed the call to go shopping.