Patna (Bihar) [India], June 6 : Stressing the need for change in Bihar, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson Tushar Gandhi on Friday called on everyone to strengthen the INDIA bloc as there is a "considerable dissatisfaction" among the people of Bihar with the present government.
Speaking with ANI, Tushar Gandhi said, "Nitish ji has been in politics for 20 long years. He has enjoyed power in many ways. But now, change is necessary. Change is inevitable in a democracy. Nitish Kumar vapis ek baar ghar vapsi bhi kar lein, toh bhi acha hoga. We call everyone to strengthen the INDIA alliance."
"In the INDIA Alliance, there has been a tradition from the beginning that the Chief Minister is decided after the election results. We have become addicted to contesting elections with a particular face. We must remember that we have chosen the model of party democracy, where the leader is selected only after the results," he further said.
Targeting the Bihar Government, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Tushar Gandhi said that the state government has failed in several sectors.
"There is considerable dissatisfaction visible among the people of Bihar. The biggest concern is law and order, followed by unemployment. There are problems with medical facilities because people are dying outside hospitals. Somewhere in all these issues, the government's failure is evident," he said.
Bihar elections are expected to be held later this year in October or November; however, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not announced an official date.
While the NDA, consisting of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will once again be looking to continue their stint in Bihar, the INDIA bloc, consisting of the RJD, Congress, and left parties, will be looking to unseat Nitish Kumar.
In the current Bihar Assembly of 243 members, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) consists of 131 with the BJP having 80 MLAs, JD(U)-45, HAM(S)-4, with the support of 2 Independent Candidates.
The Opposition's INDIA Bloc has a strength of 111 members with RJD leading with 77 MLAs, Congress-19, CPI(ML)-11, CPI(M)-2 and CPI-2.