Mountain Man's Son Denied Ticket Despite Rahul Assurance

Speaking to reporters in Patna, Manjhi said he had stayed in Delhi for four days, met Rahul Gandhi, and submitted all required documents but was ultimately overlooked.

“I had requested Rahul Gandhi for an assembly ticket, and he assured me that I would get one. But it didn’t happen. I had sought a ticket either from Barachhati or Bodh Gaya. Everyone else got tickets, but not me,” he said.

Gandhi had earlier visited the Dashrath Manjhi Memorial at Gehlaur, about 40 km from Gaya, in June, where he paid floral tributes to the statue of the ‘Mountain Man’. He also met and interacted with Manjhi’s family members during the visit. Soon after, a pucca house was built for the family in the village at Gandhi’s initiative.

Gehlaur has since become a major tourist attraction, known for Dashrath Manjhi’s extraordinary feat of carving a road through a hill single-handedly.

Bhagirath Manjhi, who quit Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) last year and joined the Congress in February, had publicly expressed his desire to contest the assembly polls soon after joining the party.

Commenting on the controversy, BJP national spokesperson Guru Prakash said, “This shows the anti-Dalit mindset of Congress leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi. Despite assuring Bhagirath Manjhi of a ticket, Gandhi went back on his word.”

Meanwhile, the opposition Mahagathbandhan suffered a setback after the Election Commission on Wednesday cancelled the nomination of RJD candidate Shweta Suman from the Mohania assembly seat, citing that she was a native of Uttar Pradesh.

Ms. Suman alleged that her nomination was rejected under “pressure from the BJP’s top leadership.”

“It was cancelled to ensure the BJP’s Sangita Kumar wins Mohania. They rejected my papers claiming I’m a native of UP and cannot contest from a reserved seat, even though I’ve lived here for 20 years,” she said.

“This is sheer high-handedness by polling officials acting under the BJP’s direction,” she alleged.