Modi In Bihar: NDA Under The Leadership Of CM Nitish Kumar Will Break All Records

Ahead of Bihar polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched an election campaign in Samastipur, stating that "NDA under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar" will break all previous electoral records in the Bihar Assembly polls.

The announcement comes one day after the opposition Mahagathbandhan named Tejashwi Yadav as their Chief Minister candidate. Earlier today, Yadav had declared that Kumar will not be made the chief minister if the ruling alliance is again voted to power.

The 243-seat Bihar Assembly is scheduled to vote in two phases on November 6 and 11, with the results expected on November 14.

In his rally on October 24, Modi asked the attendees to switch on the flashlights of their mobile phones, saying, "When all people have access to such modern gadgets, there is no need for the lantern,” taking a dig at Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD)  party symbol.

He took a jibe at the opposition, the Mahagathbandhan, raising questions at their cohesion, saying that the internal disagreements showed it was a "lathbandhan", a tie-up in which partners were beating each other with sticks. 

Modi declared that the NDA’s unity presents a contrasting image, pointing towards Kumar, the JD(U) president, Union Ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, the supremos of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) and Hindustani Awam Morcha respectively, and Rajya Sabha MP Upendra Kushwaha, who heads Rashtriya Lok Morcha, all of whom were present on the stage.

Speaking of Kumar, Modi said, "He came to power in 2005, but nearly a decade of his tenure was hampered by a hostile Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, which was constantly blackmailed by the RJD that it would withdraw support if cooperation was extended to the NDA government in Bihar".

He said that under NDA’s rule, Bihar will have reliable governance and will keep the 'jungle raj' under control.

"'Nayee raftar se chalega Bihar, phir jab aayegi NDA sarkar' (Bihar's growth will speed up once NDA returns to power). RJD and Congress indulged in scams, their leaders are out on bail, and now they are trying to steal the 'Jannayak' title of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur," he added.

He added that under the RJD rule, a dozen-and-a-half districts of Bihar were infested with Maoist insurgency. Hundreds of people were murdered, he said.

Modi also said, "In the last assembly polls in Gujarat, where the party has been in power for 30 years, all previous records were broken. Similar was the case in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Haryana. I am confident that in Bihar, too, under Nitish Kumar, the NDA will break all previous records," he said.

Later, Modi addressed another rally in Begusarai.

Modi said that the RJD leaders have only secured the future of their own sons and daughters, while ruining the future of millions of young people in Bihar. There was a time when Begusarai was one of the country’s major industrial centres, which was disrupted by “Jungle Raj.”

“Which party gave Bihar the curse of migration? Its leaders today make big claims. For the NDA government, development is the highest priority. That is why we first freed Bihar from Jungle Raj. Today, see how our Begusarai is not only reclaiming its industrial identity but is also becoming an industrial hub of the country,” he said.

The PM said that the very mention of RJD and Congress drives investors away. Modi then asked people again to take out their mobiles and switch on their lights, saying that even mobile phones were very expensive during Congress’s time. “Back then, there were only two mobile phone factories in the country. Now, there are over 200 factories, and data has also become cheaper. Today, everyone in Bihar can see this mobile phone and this light.”

He stated that RJD and Congress themselves are a problem. “They never had solutions for Bihar’s issues. They are insensitive people. They mock the poor during floods. Their mindset kept Bihar divided into North and South. But the NDA government worked to connect North and South Bihar.”

(with inputs from PTI and Amar Ujala)