Modi says NDA under Nitish Kumar will break all poll records in Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (October 24) asserted that the "NDA under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar" will break all previous electoral records in the Bihar Assembly polls, while taking a swipe at the opposition INDIA Bloc, which he said was led by "people out on bail".

Addressing his maiden election rally in the poll-bound state, Modi asked the crowd

Taking a dig at the RJD, Modi, in his maiden address in the poll-bound state, asked the crowd to switch on the lights of their mobile phones. "When all people have access to such modern gadgets, there is no need for the lantern," he said.

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Praise for Nitish, brickbats for UPA

The prime minister showered praises on Nitish Kumar in his speech, stating, “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.”

“The central assistance extended to Bihar in the last 11 years is three times what the state had received from the previous government. The state has turned the corner. It is now exporting fish, a far cry from the days when it was dependent on other states for its own needs. Makhana, which is a famous produce of Bihar, has access to markets far and wide," he said.

'Khooni panja' dig at Rajiv Gandhi

Stating that efforts by the NDA government have made Bihar an “attractive investment destination,” Modi said he foresees “a future in which every district will be teeming with startups of local youths."

“All this would not have been possible had there been 'jungle raj' in Bihar. Don't you remember that a former prime minister had said that of every rupee spent by the government, only 15 paise reached people. The money used to be devoured by a blood-stained hand (khooni panja)," said Modi, in an obvious reference to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and the poll symbol of Congress, the RJD's alliance partner.

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"Bihar will keep the 'jungle raj' at bay and vote for good governance. '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," Modi said.

End of ‘Jungle Raj’, Maoism

“Bihar is the land of a genius like Aryabhatta. Its people cannot repose their trust in the RJD-Congress combine, which had destroyed the rule of law. Kidnapping and extortion had flourished like a business. The worst sufferers of 'jungle raj' were our mothers and sisters and those from the weaker sections," alleged Modi.

"Also, under the RJD rule, a dozen-and-a-half districts of Bihar were infested with Maoist insurgency. Hundreds of people were murdered, and people were afraid of stepping out of their homes. When I came to power in 2014, I pledged to bring Maoism to an end. With utmost humility and satisfaction, I can say that we have broken the spine of Maoism. Soon, the country will be free of the menace. This is Modi's guarantee", the prime minister said.

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‘Bihar will break all previous records’

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.

In an apparent dig at INDIA bloc chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav, who, along with father Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, is named in the land for jobs scam, Modi said, "The people of Bihar cannot repose their trust in people who are out on bail (zamaanat par chhute hue log)".

(With inputs from agencies)