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The Congress will contest the Bihar assembly election as part of the Opposition bloc INDIA, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said at the party's office in Patna today.
Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), a member of the Opposition bloc, had said the INDIA grouping was meant to focus only on Lok Sabha elections.
"BJP and RSS have to be defeated in Bihar. We will defeat them by standing united with the bloc INDIA," Rahul Gandhi said. "You are the lions and tigers of the Congress. Get ready to fight," he told party workers.
The Bihar assembly election will be held this year.
Tejashwi Yadav, who in today's RJD executive meeting was authorised to take big decisions along with his father Lalu Yadav, has not yet spoken on Rahul Gandhi's comments that the Congress would fight the Bihar election with the INDIA bloc.
The RJD will amend its party constitution to give the right to Tejashwi Yadav to change the party name or symbol. The amendment will be presented in the upcoming state council meeting.
Rahul Gandhi later today went to Lalu Yadav's Patna home and met his family.
Attacking the Nitish Kumar government, the Congress MP said the education system in Bihar has been "completely sold out", depriving young people of the opportunity to secure jobs.
"Youth cannot get employment in Bihar. Inflation is skyrocketing, and poor people are being crushed," he said, signaling a focus on addressing economic and social challenges.
Nitish Kumar leads a coalition government in Bihar with the Janata Dal (United) and the BJP being the key constituents.
Rahul Gandhi also met a delegation of aspirants who have been protesting against alleged irregularities in the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exams. The delegation asked him to visit Gardani Bagh where several aspirants have been on a round-the-clock protest seeking cancellation of the Combined Competitive Exam held last month.
"We urged Rahul Gandhi to visit Gardani Bagh which is our 'dharmabhoomi' and 'karmabhoomi'. He said he will take some time off. As the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, he is known to the entire nation and his support means a lot to us," Suman Saurabh, a student from Sitamarhi, told news agency PTI.