The announcement came from Kanhaiya Kumar, the national in charge of NSUI, the Congress’ student wing, who addressed a press conference at the party’s state headquarters.
“The Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha will be at Darbhanga on May 15 when more than 60 national-level leaders of the Congress would be in various parts of the state to launch the Shiksha Nyay Yatra”, said Kumar.
The former JNU students’ union president, who recently took out a state-wide “Palayan roko naukri do pada-yatra”, also made it clear that unlike the previous programme, “Shiksha Nyay Samvad” does not have a time-frame.
“Our leaders will interact with students by visiting colleges, universities and hostels. The students of Bihar have been facing problems like delayed academic sessions, question paper leaks and repression of protests, by state government, when they raise their voice”, alleged Kumar, who had also contested Lok Sabha polls in 2019 from his native district of Begusarai.
He said, “The feedback received from students will be used in making of Nyay Patra, a charter of promises that we shall fulfil if the INDIA bloc forms the next government in Bihar”.
Notably, assembly polls are barely a few months away in the state, which has been ruled by BJP-led NDA for close to two decades.
Kumar alleged that the state’s “double engine government”, headed by JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, has failed to bring benefits to Bihar, even as Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah “has been getting investments and fancy projects like bullet train”.
The firebrand leader bristled at suggestions that the Congress was launching a new drive in Bihar realising that “Palayan roko naukri do pada-yatra” was a “flop”.
He shot back “please do not think in terms of hit and flop. We are not making a movie. Public mobilisation is a continuous process”.
The Congress leader also said that the party would see to it that caste census, to which the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has agreed, was conducted “scientifically, taking a cue from Telangana where our government based its findings on a comprehensive questionnaire”.
Asked about the Congress’ insistence on doing away with the 50 per cent cap on reservations, fixed by the Supreme Court, he pointed out, “Many BJP leaders have been saying that it is the legislature’s prerogative to frame laws. The judiciary can only ensure that these are properly enforced”.
He added that the 10 per cent quotas for economically weaker sections “may also be raised if findings of the caste census point to the need”, and asserted “no section of the society should have misgivings about our pitch for each caste getting a share commensurate with its population. Equality benefits all”. PTI NAC RG
