PM Modi held a rally in Sitamarhi ahead of Bihar’s second phase of polling.
He said people were rejecting the RJD’s “katta sarkar” and backing the NDA.
Modi highlighted women’s welfare schemes and NDA’s focus on jobs and education.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a rally in Sitamarhi on Saturday ahead of the second phase of the Bihar Assembly elections, claimed that voters were turning away from the RJD-led opposition out of fear that an INDIA bloc government would “put a katta (country-made firearm) at their heads”. In contrast, he said, the NDA was focused on promoting education, start-up ventures and opportunities for the youth, reported PTI.
Drawing a sharp distinction between the NDA and the RJD, Modi told the gathering that Bihar did not want a return to “kushasan (misgovernance)”, “kroorta (cruelty)” and corruption. “I shudder to hear that the RJD, in its campaign, is getting children to say that upon growing up they wish to become ‘rangdaar’ (street bully). Bihar definitely does not want a government which has ‘katta’, ‘kushasan’, ‘kroorta’ and corruption to offer,” he said.
The Prime Minister, who has held more than a dozen public meetings since the election schedule was announced, said the mood across Bihar indicated strong support for the NDA. “Wherever I go, I find the prevailing sentiment is, we do not want a ‘katta sarkar’, we want an NDA sarkar again,” he stated.
“This is because the people do not want a regime that would put a ‘katta’ on their heads and ask them to hold their hands up. People do not want hands up, but start up, which the NDA will facilitate. The NDA shuns ‘katta’ and promotes school bags, computers, cricket bats and hockey sticks,” Modi added.
Expressing satisfaction over the high voter turnout in the first phase of polling, which saw 65.08 per cent of electors casting their votes, Modi said the numbers reflected growing confidence in the NDA. “You have given a big shock (zor ka jhatka) to the opposition. They are getting sleepless nights,” he said.
Referring to the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyami Yojana’, launched over a month ago, Modi said that ₹10,000 each had been transferred into the accounts of over one crore women. “This would never have been possible under the ‘jungle raj’ wallahs. Because, in the words of the father of the ‘naamdaar of Congress’, the then Prime Minister, out of every rupee sanctioned by the government, only 15 paise reached the people. You all know the blood-stained hand (khooni panja) that was responsible for the loot,” he said, in remarks referring to Rahul Gandhi, late Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress’s poll symbol, PTI reported.
Modi also spoke about the NDA’s efforts to promote religious and cultural heritage, citing the Punaura Dham project in Sitamarhi, believed to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita, as an example of the alliance’s commitment to “Virasat (heritage)”.
He accused the “naamdaar of Congress” of “insulting the faith of mothers and sisters by calling Chhath festival a drama, a nautanki”. “Is it not an insult to our sentiments? Should they not be punished? In a democracy, the best way to punish is through the power of your vote,” Modi said, urging voters to respond through the ballot.
He further alleged that the RJD-Congress alliance had boycotted not only the Ram temple but also the shrines of Mata Shabri, Maharshi Valmiki and Nishad Raj in Ayodhya due to “vote bank politics”. “Those who are guided by the politics of vote bank can never do good for the state. Their vote bank politics has led them to even protect infiltrators,” Modi claimed, according to PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
