Showdown At Rabri Devi's House After Tejashwi Yadav Protest March Stopped

The police personnel, who foiled his attempt to proceed towards Gopalganj, took exception to RJD workers violating social distancing norms.

Patna:

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday met Bihar Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and urged him to convene a special session of the assembly on law and order and other pressing issues, shortly after he was stopped by police from going to Gopalganj district in a massive procession.

The police personnel, who foiled his attempt to proceed towards Gopalganj, took exception to RJD workers violating social distancing norms.

Earlier, a high drama unfolded outside the residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi which Tejashwi Yadav shares with her and where he had summoned party workers including all members of the legislature to join him in the march towards Gopalganj.

Mr Yadav has been upset over the "failure" of the police to arrest JD(U) MLA Amar Nath Pandey alias Pappu Pandey who is named in an FIR lodged following an attack on RJD worker JP Yadav at Gopalganj on Sunday last which the party activist survived but his brother and parents died.

After a few hours of slogan-shouting and shoving on the pathways leading Rabri Devi's palatial bungalow which is a stone's throw from Raj Bhavan and the official residence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Mr Yadav relented and decided to meet the assembly speaker instead.

Emerging after the meeting, where he was accompanied by brother and MLA Tej Pratap Yadav, RJD state president Jagadanand Singh and national general secretary Alok Mehta, a visibly chastened Tejashwi Yadav told reporters, "It must have been the first instance in the history of democratic politics when the leader of the opposition had to seek permission from authorities before meeting the speaker."

The 30-year-old younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, whom the party has named its chief ministerial candidate, said he has demanded a special session on the delicate situation prevailing in Bihar where law and order has collapsed.

"The government is indifferent to the lot of migrants who have returned in large numbers during the lockdown and the health system is far from adequate to handle a crisis like COVID-19," he said.

He also lashed out at the government for depriving the opposition party of its right to stage a democratic protest and said, "We were not going to Gopalganj with the intent of ''maara-peeti'' (fighting). We fail to understand why we were restrained from travelling despite the assurance that we will follow social distancing norms".