Bihar Polls: PM Modi Says Congress-RJD Insulted 'Chhathi Maiyya'

Addressing an election rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Congress and the RJD of “insulting Chhathi Maiyya for votes.” He added that efforts were underway to secure a UNESCO heritage tag for the Chhath festival.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address two rallies today, October 30, in Muzaffarpur and Chhapra. He had earlier launched the NDA’s campaign in Bihar with rallies in Samastipur and Begusarai on October 24.

Modi on Thursday claimed that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi insulted the festival of Chhath. While addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday, Gandhi had mentioned that Modi did “drama in the name of Chhath Puja” and can “even dance on stage for vote”.

“You’ve seen that your son here is busy making the world chant praises for Chhathi Maiya. On the other hand, these Congress and RJD leaders are insulting Chhathi Maiya. Can anyone ever insult Chhathi Maiya just to win votes in an election? Can such an insult be tolerated by Bihar, India? Can my mothers who observe the strict fast without water tolerate it?” Modi said today in Muzaffarpur. 

He added that RJD and Congress are speaking “shamelessly”, claiming that “for them, the worship of the Chhathi Maiya is a farce and drama. Shouldn’t such people be punished?”

The PM spoke of the women who observe long fasts without water, the women who stand in the river Ganga and offer Arghya to the sun god. 

“In the eyes of the RJD-Congress, they are calling it a drama. Will the mothers and sisters of Bihar tolerate this insult to Chhathi Maiya? I know that no person from Bihar can forget this insult to Chhathi Maiya,” Modi said, adding that the BJP is attempting to get a UNESCO heritage tag for Chhath.

Modi claimed that he, along with Nitish Kumar, are empowering women, and took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, saying “princes who have opened a shop of false promises” without naming the two.

“One is the prince of India’s most corrupt families, and the other is the prince of Bihar’s most corrupt family. Both of them are out on bail in scams worth thousands of crores,” Modi said.

He stated that both leaders had criticised him in their October 29 rally. “Those who are ‘naamdar’ [famous] will obviously abuse this ‘kaamdar’ [worker]. A ‘naamdar’ can’t digest their food without abusing a ‘kaamdar’. Abusing Dalits and backward classes is something these ‘naamdars’ consider their birthright. That’s why these people keep insulting me 24 hours a day.”

Modi reiterated that the RJD and the Congress party “can never develop Bihar” despite years of being in power in Bihar. He said that they have “only betrayed people”. “The identity of RJD and Congress people is from five things — gun, cruelty, bitterness, misgovernance and corruption,” Modi said.

“Think about it, those whose history is grabbing land, will they give land to any industry? Those who kept Bihar in the lantern era, can they provide electricity? Will those who looted the railways improve connectivity in Bihar? Those who broke records of corruption and scams, can they bring the rule of law?” Modi alleged.

Modi said that merely recalling the “Jungle Raj” evokes fear, describing it as a period marked by lawlessness and insecurity. Referring to the Golu kidnapping case from 2001, he recounted how a young boy was abducted in broad daylight on his way to school, with criminals demanding a hefty ransom. 

“In the same city, in 2001, while going to school, a small child was kidnapped in broad daylight by criminals, and they demanded a large sum of money in return. When the money could not be paid, these ‘RJD thugs’ killed that small child into pieces,” he alleged.

Modi further claimed that such incidents were frequent across Bihar during the RJD’s rule, asserting that nearly 35,000 to 40,000 kidnappings had occurred during that period.

While praising the government BJP and NDA, he mentioned that for Bihar to go forward, the state needs enterprises, industries which require land, electricity, connectivity and the rule of law.

(with inputs from The Hindu)