In Bihar, Modi warns against ‘jungle raj’
Addressing rallies, PM pitches ‘double engine’ govt against Oppn’s ‘princes’
PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the third leg of his Bihar assembly election campaign in Chapra on Sunday and urged the electorate to defeat the opposition which, he said, had presided over “jungle raj” in the state during its 15-year reign.
Without naming the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Modi said that some parties were working for the welfare of their families instead of the development of the state. “Self-serving dynasts treat the state and government as their personal properties. No one from the families of Modi or Nitish Babu has reached the corridors of power,” the PM said in a speech in Samastipur.
Addressing the people of 24 assembly constituencies from Chapra and 21 assembly seats from Samastipur, PM Modi said the high turnover in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 28 had proved political pundits wrong.
“The trends from the first phase of polls show the NDA is coming back to power again. It is clear that {chief minister} Nitish Kumar is all set to form government again,” said the PM.
The second phase of elections on November 3 is crucial in the NDA’s quest to return to power. Out of the 94 seats going to the polls in the second phase, the BJP is contesting 46 and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), 43. The remaining five seats are being contested by their smaller partners. In 2015, the JD(U) had won 30 of the seats that are up for grabs on November 3. This time, it has fielded 19 new faces; the fate of two ministers will be decided in the phase.
For the BJP, the second phase is equally crucial in its quest to emerge as the single biggest party in the assembly. The party contested 29 seats in first phase and will contest 35 more in the third phase on November 7.
Without taking the name of any political party, but in an oblique reference to the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, Modi said efforts by some to create confusion in the minds of the voters had been nullified by the people of Bihar. LJP leader Chirag Paswan has pulled the party out of the NDA in Bihar, citing ideological differences with Nitish Kumar, while remaining in the alliance at the Centre
“On one hand, you have a government with double engines {at the Centre and state}; on the other hand, there are two prince (referring to RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Congress’s Rahul Gandhi). While the double engine government of Bihar is committed to the state’s development, the two princes are busy saving their thrones,” he added.
“You must have seen 3-4 years ago during UP elections, double Yuvarajs there as well, climbed on top of the bus, wore
black jackets and used to visit villages while waving,” he added in an apparent reference to the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi.
Targeting young voters who are seemingly distancing themselves from the present government, Modi asked women of the state to tell them about the situation that existed in Bihar 15 years ago. “First-time voters should remember how much effort it took to pull out the state out of this situation. Ask your mothers how they feared kidnappers...The lantern has only spread darkness,” he said, referring to the RJD’s election symbol.
“I am sure that with your vote you will save Bihar from getting bimaar {sick} again,” the PM said.
The PM said the government had opened up 30 passport centres, including one in Gopalganj, for those aspiring to go abroad, adding that now there was no need to travel all the way to Patna to secure a passport.
The region has one of the populations employed in West Asia.
“We have removed the language barrier by emphasising the {importance of the} mother
tongue as the medium of instruction in the new education policy,” he said.
“The Bihar government laid special emphasis on providing electricity, water and road connectivity to people across the state,” Modi said, adding that the Centre had implemented railway projects worth Rs 2,500 crore in the state.
PM said that the BJP has decided to form 1,000 farmer producer organisations in Bihar. “Also, the central government has created a fund of ₹1 lakh crore for agriculture infrastructure for our farmers,” the PM said.
With the biggest festival of Bihar, Chhath Puja, taking place after the election results are out on November 10, Modi appealed to the sentiments of women. “I want to tell the mothers in Bihar, your son in Delhi will make sure you celebrate Chhath Puja with pride. I won’t let your family sleep hungry at night. We have ensured free grains for the poor till Chhath puja,” he said
Modi accused the Opposition of politicising the February 14, 2019 Pulwama terror attack, which left 40 paramilitary troopers dead, and demoralis
ing the armed forces. “The Pakistani admission has shown the real face of opposition,” he said in an apparent reference to an admission by a Pakistani politician that Pakistan had a hand in the attack.
He paid rich tributes to the 20 Indian troops who died in a June 15 clash with Chinese soldiers in the Galwan valley in Ladakh.