In poll-bound Bihar, this Sunday, rallies organised Left, Right & Centre

It’s very rare that three different political parties, with divergent views and ideologies, organise rallies or hold march the same day. But this Sunday (June 7), the Left (comprising CPI, CPM, and the CPI-ML), the BJP, and the main Opposition party in Bihar, the RJD, will be holding rallies and protest march on June 7.

The BJP was the first to announce a virtual rally, which will be addressed by former party chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The ‘virtual rally’, will be an address through video conference via Facebook live. “A first-of-its-kind digital rally, it is expected that around one lakh people will be addressed through the virtual rally by Amit Shah on Sunday,” said Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal.

Through this event, Shah is likely to sound poll bugle in election-bound Bihar, where polling for the 243 Assembly seats is slated to be held in October-November this year. The term of the present Assembly expires on November 29, 2020. It is also expected that Shah may reiterate his last year call to contest the ensuing Assembly poll under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, despite some reservations expressed by a section of BJP leaders as well as LJP chief Chirag Paswan.

‘Aata’ vs data

The RJD has, however, decided to observe ‘Garib Adhikar Diwas’ on June 7 (Sunday) to protest the BJP’s launch of its electioneering during the COVID-19 crisis. “When the poor don’t have ‘aata’ (flour), what will they do with the data,” said Tejashwi, dwelling at length how poor migrants have been left to fend for themselves, while the ruling alliance partner of Nitish, the BJP, has been busy holding digital rally.

Betrayal Day

The Left parties, comprising the CPI, CPM, CPI-ML and the Forward Bloc, will observe June 7 as Vishwashghat-Dhikkar Diwas (Betrayal Day) here on Sunday. The Left move is to protest BJP’s ‘virtual rally’ at a time when the State is badly afflicted with coronavirus crisis. “The double engine NDA Government in Bihar has failed on all fronts during this crisis. Holding a virtual rally by Amit Shah at this time will be like rubbing salt into the wounds of those hit by COVID-19,” said CPI State Secretary, Satya Narayan Singh.