Rahul, Akhilesh, Lalu attend 'Jan Vishwas Rally' in Patna

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday arrived in Bihar's capital Patna to attend the 'Jan Vishwas Rally', which is being seen as a show of strength for the Opposition INDIA bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The rally, which has been organised by Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), is being attended by top leaders including national president Lalu Prasad, his son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general-secretary Sitaram Yechury, and CPI general secretary D. Raja.

Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has also reached the venue.

The historic Gandhi Maidan, a sprawling public ground situated in the heart of the city, is choc -a-bloc with supporters of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), a coalition comprising the Congress, RJD and Left parties, which was sharing power in the state until the abrupt recent exit of chief minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal (United).

The 'Jan Vishwas Rally' is being seen as a culmination of the 'Jan Vishwas Yatra', a state-wide tour undertaken by Tejashwi Yadav, who lost his job as deputy chief minister and embarked upon a drive to galvanise public opinion in favour of his commitment to job creation.

"Naukri matlab Tejashwi (Tejashwi means jobs)" is one of the slogans that reverberated across the venue of the rally.