The seven-party ruling alliance in Bihar, called the mahagathbandhan or the grand alliance, will hold a joint rally at Purnia on February 25 against the alleged neglect of the state in union budget and to highlight other alleged failures of the BJP-led union government, its leaders announced on Wednesday.
The event has been christened as Ekjutata rally, which loosely translates as a show of unity.
The rally, first major show of the mahagathbandhan since it formed the government in Bihar in August last year after the JD-U snapped ties with BJP and allied with RJD, Congress and other parties, will be addressed by chief minister Nitish Kumar, deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and top leaders of the Left parties, which are also part of the alliance.
Purnia as venue for the proposed rally is significant. The impoverished Seemanchal region in northeast Bihar, comprising border districts of Kishanganj, Purnia, Katihar and Araria, has significant population of Muslims, extremely backward classes and Yadavs. The region shares border with West Bengal and Bangladesh.
On September 23 last year, union home minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah had addressed a rally at Purnia, which was billed as the party’s first major political move to consolidate its base in Seemanchal after its alliance with JD(U) snapped in August 2022.
State RJD president Jagdanand Singh, who was accompanied by leaders of alliance partners at the press conference where the rally was announced today, said, “The rally will be attended by supporters and activists of all constituents of the grand alliance from Purnia, Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar, Supaul , Madhepura , Saharsa and Bhagalapur. There is a need for secular forces to unite to fight against the communal forces trying to vitiate the cordial atmosphere in the state.”
JD-U’s state president Umesh Kushwaha said the central government was only indulging in “jumlabaazi (rhetoric)’’ and the BJP was disillusioned after losing power in the state.
Senior Congress leader and its former state unit president, Madan Mohan Jha, said the grand alliance had been fighting against BJP’s politics of spreading hatred and the initiative taken in Bihar by the GA would prove as a milestone in coming days.
