Rahul Gandhi's mega outreach to SCs, STs in Bihar. Will it help revive Congress?

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday kickstarted the 'Shiksha Nyay Samvad' campaign in Bihar's Darbhanga and interacted with students from the Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes (SCs and STs) in an effort to reach out to the community ahead of the Assembly polls.Rahul Gandhi, who is the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, interacted with the students at the Ambedkar hostel despite the local administration denying him permission.advertisementLater in the day, Rahul Gandhi flew to Patna to watch 'Phule', a film based on the life of social reformer Jyoti Rao Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule that triggered a controversy recently. He watched the film with representatives from the SCs and STs.During his visit to Darbhanga, Rahul Gandhi raised the caste survey issue and demanded reservations for students from the SC and ST communities in private institutions.He accused the Nitish Kumar-led government of denying funds to them under the SC-ST sub-plan, meant to ensure the communities receive a proportionate share of development benefits."We want to raise three demands - conducting a caste census in the country, reservation for OBCs (Other Backward Classes), EBCs (Economically Backward Classes), SCs and STs in private institutions and ensuring funds for SCs and STs under the government's SC-ST sub plan," he said.advertisementThe SC-ST sub-plan fund is earmarked for the development of SCs and STs. It is a designated pool of resources to fund programmes focusing on improving the socio-economic condition of SCs and STs, which, according to Rahul Gandhi, was being denied in Bihar.FOCUS ON BIHARThis was Rahul Gandhi's fourth visit to Bihar, where the Assembly polls are scheduled to take place in October-November this year. It is also the first visit since the Centre announced to conduct a caste census along with the national population count.Rahul Gandhi's visits to Bihar sent out a clear message that the Congress was leaving no stones unturned this time to fight the elections aggressively in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).Interestingly, just ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls, the Congress appears to have changed its strategy and is now aggressively trying to reach out to the SC, STs voters in the state. The party also replaced its state president, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, with a Dalit leader, Rajesh Ram, a few months back.The party also appointed Sushil Pasi, who belongs to the Dalit community, as the co-incharge of Bihar.CONGRESS'S OUTREACH TO DALITSFor the first time, the Congress celebrated the 130th birth anniversary of Jaglal Choudhary, a prominent Pasi leader of his time, in February this year. The event was attended by Rahul Gandhi.advertisementThe key organisational changes in the party's Bihar unit and organising events related to the Dalit community were a clear indication that the Congress was trying to woo its traditional vote bank, which accounts for nearly 19 per cent of the population in the state.At one point, Dalits were considered a strong vote bank of the Congress, but over the period, they moved away from the grand old party to Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) after 2005 because of the development work carried out by his government in the last 20 years.Out of 243 Assembly seats in Bihar, 38 of them are reserved for SCs and two for STs.CONGRESS'S DECLINE IN BIHARIn the last three decades, the Congress in Bihar has been in a decline, with the party's vote share continuously dipping in the state.1990 - 24.78 per cent1995 - 16.30 per cent2000 - 11.06 per cent2005 - 6.09 per cent2010 - 8.37 per cent2015 - 6.7 per cent2020 - 9.48 per centIn light of this, Rahul Gandhi is going all out to woo the Dalit community to revive the prospects of the Congress in the upcoming Assembly polls.Tune InMust Watch
IN THIS STORY#Rahul Gandhi#Indian National Congress#Bihar

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