Patna's washermen, dhobis in local lingo, have decided to boycott the state's politicians, including Chief Minister Rabri Devi and her husband Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, in protest against the state government's decision to convert a local dhobhi ghat into a vegetable market.

The Patna Zila Rajak Samiti, a body of washermen, said the boycott will start anytime after October 16.

The washermen will also organise a gadha (donkey) rally in the state capital Patna to drive their point home. Donkeys are the preferred transport option of washermen all over the country.

"We will not offer our services to politicians...they did not consult us on converting the ghat into a vegetable market," said a washerman.

"We have been using the ghat since 1914. How can it be suddenly taken away from us?" he said.

Politicians in Patna, it looks like, will for once be washing their dirty linen in public, literally!