Patna, August 26: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday lashed out at Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, demanding that they apologise to the people of Bihar for inviting Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to their ongoing ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’.
Speaking at an event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in Patna, Pradhan expressed outrage over Reddy’s presence in Supaul district alongside the Gandhi siblings, citing past controversial remarks made by the Telangana CM.
"Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi should apologise to the people of Bihar. Revanth Reddy had once said that the DNA of Bihar is inferior. It is an insult to the people of this state," Pradhan said.
He also called on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, who is accompanying the Congress leaders in the yatra, to issue an apology as well.
The controversy stems from an old remark attributed to Reddy, in which he allegedly said that his predecessor K. Chandrasekhar Rao had a "Bihari DNA", implying it was not as "superior" as Telangana’s DNA. The statement had sparked widespread criticism at the time.
Pradhan, a senior BJP leader and former party in-charge for Bihar, further accused the INDIA bloc of "spreading misinformation" regarding electoral processes, especially claims of 'vote chori' (vote theft). Defending the removal of lakhs of names from electoral rolls, he stated, "India is not a dharmashala (shelter) for Rohingyas and Bangladeshis."
Addressing the youth in the audience, he urged them to look up the history of electoral fraud in Bihar. “Search on Google, Grok, or ChatGPT about ‘vote chori’ in Bihar. You'll find countless cases of large-scale booth capturing during the times when RJD and Congress were in power,” he alleged.
"The Congress party, which once imposed Emergency on the country, is now teaming up with the RJD in Bihar to spread the false narrative of 'vote theft', trying to mislead the people of Bihar and the entire nation.Those who once robbed the rights of the oppressed, the deprived, and the suffering during the era of 'Jungle Raj' are now spreading lies about 'vote theft'," said Pradhan.
However, the youth of Bihar and the people at large, inspired by the democratic ideals of 'Loknayak' Jayaprakash Narayan, will teach these anti-Constitutional forces a lesson in the upcoming Assembly elections and pave the way for a 'Developed India – Developed Bihar', he said.
(With agency inputs)
