Rahul Gandhi stopped from entering Ambedkar hostel in Bihar

Darbhanga/Patna: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday stopped by police on his way to Ambedkar hostel in Darbhanga, where he was scheduled to interact with students.

When the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha reached outside Ambedkar hostel, his convoy was stopped from entering the premises. He was supposed to interact with students there at the party's 'Shiksha Nyay Samvad' event, a state-wide public outreach programme.

Senior leaders of Bihar Congress asked security personnel to open the main entrance of Ambedkar hostel so that Gandhi can attend the function.

The administration had on Wednesday night allowed 'Shiksha Nyay Samvad', to be held at Town Hall shortly after the Congress party took exception to permission being 'denied' at the Ambedkar Hostel.

Earlier in the day, leaders of Bihar Congress made it clear that Rahul Gandhi's interaction with students in Darbhanga town on Thursday will be held at the venue chosen by the party and not at the one suggested by the local administration.

In Patna, senior Congress leader Abhay Dubey told a hurriedly convened press conference, "The administration in Darbhanga is acting at the behest of the JD(U)-BJP combine. Hundreds of students coming from the adjoining districts of Madhubani and Samastipur are being prevented from entering Darbhanga. But the administration should realise that Rahul Gandhi enjoys the unlimited support of the country's deprived classes."

Dubey also ridiculed the purported claim of the Darbhanga administration that while seeking permission, the organisers had never specified that they wanted the programme to be held at Ambedkar Hostel.