Rahul Gandhi arrives in Patna for Dalit icon Jaglal Choudhary’s birth anniversary

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Patna on Wednesday to attend the birth anniversary celebrations of veteran freedom fighter and Dalit icon Jaglal Choudhary.

Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was welcomed at Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport by Bihar Congress chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh and senior party leaders.


The event will be held at the Shri Krishna Memorial Hall later on Wednesday.

According to party sources, Gandhi is also expected to meet Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed Khan.

The meeting assumes significance following the recent death of Khan’s son, who was found dead at his official residence in Patna’s Gardani Bagh area on February 3.

This is Gandhi’s second visit to Bihar within a month. He was last in Patna on January 18, where he addressed the ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’ and met Congress workers at the BPCC headquarters, Sadaqat Ashram.

Honouring Jaglal Choudhary’s legacy

Jaglal Choudhary, a close follower of Mahatma Gandhi, left his medical studies at Calcutta Medical College in 1921 to join the Non-Cooperation Movement.

He later became one of the four cabinet ministers in the Shri Krishna Sinha-led interim government of Bihar in 1937. His family’s sacrifice for the nation runs deep—one of Choudhary’s sons was shot dead by British police during the Quit India Movement.

Bihar Congress president Akhilesh Prasad Singh described Choudhary as "a towering figure of the freedom struggle" whose contributions remain an inspiration for the younger generation.

Ahead of Gandhi’s visit, Singh said the event would further energize the party’s grassroots workers. "The more time Rahul ji spends in Bihar, the stronger the party becomes," Singh told reporters at the Congress office on Tuesday. He also reaffirmed the Congress party’s alliance with the RJD, stating that both parties have always followed a secular path and maintained their distance from the BJP.

Addressing speculation about the NDA’s aim to secure 225 seats in the upcoming state elections, Singh said, "The Grand Alliance’s focus is to win all 243 seats in Bihar." He expressed confidence in a fair seat-sharing arrangement within the alliance.

Singh dismissed any suggestion of rifts within the Grand Alliance. "The alliance is intact, and no one should underestimate the Congress. It has a pan-India presence and will remain a key player in Bihar politics," he said.



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