The sky was clear, but love rained on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the last day of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Bihar on Friday. And to add to it, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav joined him and became his ‘charioteer’ in Sasaram in a show of unity and brotherhood.

As the yatra resumed from the Congress office at Sasaram in Rohtas district in the morning, Tejashwi took the steering wheel of the red-colour, open-top utility vehicle reserved for Rahul’s road show.

It was a gesture that sent a strong message that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was robust, at least in Bihar, despite the exit of chief minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal United (JDU).

Former Lok Sabha Speaker and twice MP from Sasaram Lok Sabha seat Meira Kumar, daughter of former deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram, was in the back seat. The area is famous for paddy production and is part of the rice bowl that stretches across Bhojpur, Buxar, Rohtas, Kaimur and Aurangabad districts.

The thousands of people, who had assembled along the route, went gaga on seeing the two young leaders together. They showered flowers and garlands on them, danced, shouted slogans and at times mobbed them.

“Ye jodi dhoom macha degi. Dekh lena. Koi nahin rok payega chunav mein. (This team will rock. You can bet on it. Nobody will be able to stop them in the elections),” said Shankar Singh, a farmer present in the crowd, depicting the mood of the people.

Rahul accepted the good wishes of the people, standing in the vehicle and after some time Tejashwi also left the steering and joined him. Both of them moved to the ‘Kisan Nyay Mahapanchayat’ at Tekari, off the Grand Trunk Road to listen to the woes of the farmers.

“We never get the MSP (minimum support price) for paddy. The Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) procure it from us at rates that are around Rs 300 less than the MSP. They take 5kg per quintal more paddy from us and also cheat while weighing with their own balances,” said Rakesh Kumar, a farmer from Sasaram.

One Rahul Kumar described how the farmers were slowly being deprived of agricultural land in the name of development in the area and were not getting adequate compensation for their land acquired by the government for infrastructure projects due to various anomalies at the central and state levels.

Rahul slammed the Centre and the state governments as “anti-farmers and anti-workers” and asserted that their rights were being destroyed.