The Bihar Pradesh Youth Congress leaders and workers took to the streets of Patna on Tuesday in protest against “rising corruption under the NDA government in Bihar, the allotment of farmers’ land in Bhagalpur’s Pirpainti to the Adani Group for a power plant, as well as the felling of lakhs of trees.”
Youth Congress workers marched from Sadaqat Ashram intending to gherao (encircle) the chief minister’s residence, but the Bihar Police stopped them midway by setting up barricades. When the workers broke through the barricades, the police used force to drive them away. To disperse the protestors, the police even resorted to lathi charge (baton charge), dragged several protestors into riot control vehicles and detained them.
Leading the protest, Youth Congress National President Uday Bhanu Chib alleged that the Bihar government has suppressed Bihar’s youth for the past two decades, and is afraid of its repercussions in the upcoming Assembly elections.
He said: “In Bhagalpur, 1,050 acres of land, along with 10 lakh trees, has been handed over to Gautam Adani for just Rs 1 per year for a power plant. We will continue our fight against this government from the streets to the Parliament.”
“The double-engine government is looting Bihar for the sake of their friend, and in doing so, they’ve turned Bihar into a ‘BIMARU’ (backward) state. This is injustice against the people of Bihar. We will not rest until we restore every right to the people,” he added.
Bihar Pradesh Youth Congress President Shiv Prakash Garib Das said, “The potential of Bihar is being continuously sold out to traders from Gujarat. Progress can never mean the spread of corruption, and we oppose this and will continue to do so.”