(From left) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Bihar Congress president Mehboob Ali Quaiser and Bihar Youth Congress president Lallan Kumar on way to meet families of the Forbesganj firing victims in Bhajanpura on Friday. Picture by Mohan Mahato

Araria, July 1: Rahul Gandhi today sought to do a Bhatta Parsaul in Bihar when he spent more than three hours with family members of those killed in police firing at Forbesganj last month.

Clad in white kurta-pyjama, the Congress general secretary flew into the Chunapur airbase in Purnea on a special aircraft from Delhi around 9.20am. He drove straight to Bhajanpura village, around 70km northwest of the airbase, to meet the families.

At least four persons were killed in the firing on demonstrators protesting against the blocking of a road by the owners of a starch factory on June 3.

Accompanied by senior party leaders Shakeel Ahmad, Mehboob Ali Quaiser, V.K. Thakur and Lallan Kumar, the Gandhi scion was all ears as the villagers narrated their plight. Rahul spent around 20 to 25 minutes with each of the victims’ families.

Braving the muddy roads of the village, the Congress leader visited five households and heard out their grievances. He promised to take up their cause and fight for justice and also offered the injured persons treatment at AIIMS in New Delhi if they so wished.

A similar promise was made to the parents of eight-year-old Mohammed Manjur, a child who lost his right leg in the firing. “Rahulji promised the child that he would get him treated in Delhi,” said a Congress leader.

This was Rahul’s first rural mission since his much publicised foray into Bhatta Parsaul village in Uttar Pradesh on May 11 where he sided with farmers protesting against land acquisition by the Mayavati regime.

This was also Rahul’s first visit to Bihar since the elections last year where the Congress was routed. He had campaigned in Araria as well, but the Congress did not win a single seat.

After spending time with the affected families today, Rahul walked to the middle school where hundreds of villagers were waiting to narrate their problems. The villagers submitted a memorandum demanding withdrawal of police cases against the victims, construction of an alternative road for the village and justice to the firing victims.

Rahul and his cavalcade, consisting of around 20 cars, then reached the Forbesganj industrial area where the starch factory is coming up. He spent around half-an-hour there.