Close shave for Tejashwi Yadav as drone hits podium in Patna

Patna, June 29 (IANS) Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday narrowly escaped injury as a drone crashed into a podium when he was addressing a rally in Patna.

Addressing the 'Save Waqf - Save Constitution' conference at Gandhi Maidan, Patna, Tejashwi accused the BJP of conspiring to snatch the voting rights of the poor, backward, Dalit, extremely backward, tribal, and minority communities in Bihar.

"The BJP will try to snatch the voting rights of the poor and backward by deleting their names from the voter list.”

He urged the people of Bihar to remain vigilant during the ongoing voter list revision, referring to the Election Commission's notification for preparing a new list of 8 crore voters in 25 days.

"Please ensure that no one's name is removed, or they will stop your pension, ration, scholarship, and other welfare schemes," Tejashwi told the gathering.

Tejashwi emphasised the shared sacrifices of Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians in India's freedom struggle, asserting that India belongs to all communities, not to any one party or family.

"We must fight together to save Waqf, customs, and voters, and foil the conspiracies of the BJP," he said.

The rally saw participation from Congress leader Salman Khurshid and other senior leaders of the INDIA bloc.

During his address, Tejashwi narrowly escaped injury when a drone, hired by the organisers for coverage, suddenly crashed into the podium.

As the drone approached Tejashwi, he quickly bent down, avoiding direct contact before the drone fell onto the stage, leading to temporary chaos.

Security personnel immediately secured the drone, and the rally resumed after a brief interruption.

This was the second incident when Tejashwi Yadav narrowly escaped.

Recently, after the conclusion of the student-youth RJD dialogue programme in Bapu Auditorium, Patna, the glass door was shattered due to the excessive crowd.

--IANS

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