Patna, 7 April
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Monday joined the ongoing 'Palayan Roko, Naukri Do' padyatra of the Congress in Bihar's Begusarai district.

Clad in a white T-shirt, Gandhi participated in the padyatra in Begusarai town and was accompanied by several party leaders, including Kanhaiya Kumar and state party president Rajesh Kumar.

A large number of leaders and workers of the Congress and its student and youth wings, carrying party flags and placards demanding the immediate filling-up of vacancies in defence forces, also took part in the padyatra.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi arrived at Begusarai from Patna, where he was received at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport by Rajesh Kumar and other senior party leaders.

He will later return to Patna to address the 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' (Save the Constitution Symposium). After that he will visit Sadaqat Ashram, the Bihar Congress office in Patna, to address party workers.

This is Gandhi's third Bihar tour since January, when he had urged party workers to "inflict an ideological defeat" on the BJP in the assembly polls due later this year.

The Raebareli MP shared a minute-long video message on X on Sunday, urging the youth of Bihar to join him in the march in Begusarai wearing "white T-shirts".

"Our aim is to draw the attention of the world to the plight of Bihar's youth, who find government jobs getting scarce day by day and privatisation bringing no benefits. Let us bring the government in the state under pressure and change it," he said in the video.

Begusarai also happens to be the home district of Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been the star attraction of the padyatra, which began in East Champaran district last month.

The former JNU students' union president had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, on a CPI ticket, from the seat.

In the Bihar assembly polls, the Mahagathbandhan, comprising RJD, Congress and the Left, is pitted against the ruling Nitish Kumar-led NDA that also comprises the BJP.