Time has come to usher a change in Bihar, Congress President Sonia Gandhi tells voters

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Tuesday that the opposition alliance has become the choice of voters for building “a new Bihar”. In a campaign video message released on the eve of the first phase of the assembly election, she accused the JD(U)-BJP government of deviating from the path of good governance and bringing hardships to the poor sections of the state.

“Drunk on power and arrogance, the government in Bihar has deviated from its path. Their words and deeds are suspect. The labourers are helpless, the farmers are upset and the youth are disappointed. People are bearing the brunt of the fragile state of the economy,” said Gandhi.

She said the poor, including the Mahadalits and backward communities, were hit hard by the decisions of the NDA governments both at the Centre and in the state, especially by the manner the ruling side handled the demonetisation and lockdown, which she said caused an economic crisis and unemployment. “A serious crisis has befallen the farmers of India. The lives of Dalits and Mahadalits have been destroyed and similar is the fate of the backward sections of society,” she said.


Urging people not to let the next government be made on the basis of “fear and crimes”, Gandhi pitched for the opposition alliance saying, “The people of Bihar are with the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and this is the call of Bihar. Time has come for ushering in change in the state, to build a new Bihar for the next generation.”

Congress leader Rahu Gandhi is slated to address two rallies on Wednesday at Valmiki Nagar and Kusheshwar Asthan constituencies that go to the polls in the second phase of voting on November 3.