PM kicks off campaign in Bihar, praises aggressive India under NDA rule
Modi slams corruption by State’s previous ‘Congress-RJD govt.’; accuses UPA of grabbing land in lieu of railway jobs, but praises CM Nitish Kumar for his ‘blameless’ tenure as Railway Minister
Kicking off the National Democratic Alliance’s poll campaign in Bihar on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the selfsufficient and aggressive nature of the new India under NDA rule.
“India has changed now. Whenever something was happening to the country earlier, [the Congressled UPA government] used to reach out to other countries for help. But today, yeh badla hua Bharat, yeh ghar mein ghus kar marta hai [this is a changed India, which enters into homes to kill),” Mr. Modi said, to the roaring cheers of the crowd at a public meeting in Jamui, made up mostly of young people.
He also slammed the corruption of the “previous CongressRJD government” in the State, with no mention of the fact that Bihar was last governed by a coalition that included the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), but was headed by the Janata Dal (United), which is currently a member of the ruling NDA.
‘Opposed Bharat Ratna’
“This CongressRJD government in Bihar even opposed the Bharat Ratna award conferred on [the late veteran socialist leader] Karpoori Thakur; they opposed a tribal becoming the President of India,” Mr. Modi said.
He also slammed the previous Congressled UPA government at the Centre, saying, “They were the land grabbers of poor people in lieu of jobs [in Railways]”.
He acknowledged that JD(U) chief and current Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had been the Railway Minister under a previous NDA regime, but said that his tenure had been “blameless”.
“When this ghamandia alliance was in power, what was the condition of Railways? But today, even people of Bihar are travelling in trains like Vande Bharat,” Mr. Modi said.
Mr. Kumar, who shared the stage with Mr. Modi at the Jamui event, reiterated that he would “not go anywhere from here”, in an implicit acknowledgement that he has previously left the NDA several times.
Meanwhile, RJD leader Shivanand Tiwary on Thursday expressed bewilderment over PM’s charge that the party had “opposed” Bharat Ratna for Karpoori Thakur.