Bihar polls: PM Modi rebuffs Chirag Paswan, roots for Nitish Kumar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a blistering attack on the RJD-led Mahagatbandhan, but at the same time cleared the air about confusion within the NDA after its estranged ally, the LJP, decided to contest the polls on its own.

“The voters of Bihar have always been very matured. Neither they were confused in the past, nor they are confused this time when some people are deliberately trying to mislead them,” said Modi, without taking the name of LJP president Chirag Paswan, who has been shouting from the rooftop that he was “Modi’s Hanuman, and the PM remained in his heart.”

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Modi was addressing an NDA rally near Sasaram where he kick-started the poll campaign for the three-phase Bihar Assembly election, which will begin on October 28 and conclude on November 7.

Before he started his speech, a relatively lacklustre one (compared to his earlier aggressive speeches), Modi paid tributes to former Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and the ex-RJD Union Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh. Soon thereafter, he appealed to the voters not to pay heed to rumour-mongers and strengthen the hands of Nitish as it was “he who has put Bihar back on the track of fast development.”

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Striking an emotional chord with those from the rural belt, he recalled how the sons of Bihar soil had been martyred during the Galwan conflict with China at Leh-Ladakh.

“Though my government abrogated Article 370 in J&K, there are still leaders from the Opposition camp who want it restored and have said they would do so if they return to power. Such leaders are contesting Bihar elections too,” said Modi, in an apparent dig at the Congress.

“It’s the same party which made a hue and cry about farm bills and defence deals, precisely because they remain more worried about the dalals (brokers),” said Modi.

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The prime minister, meanwhile, praised Nitish for whom he was seeking votes in the upcoming Assembly election. In 2010 polls, Nitish had put a blanket ban on campaigns by Modi, who was then the Gujarat chief minister. During the 2015 Assembly poll, Nitish was the leader of the Grand Alliance and fighting Modi-led BJP wherein the prime minister had questioned his DNA, leading to huge row.

On Friday, PM Modi recalled how Nitish could not work during the 10 years of UPA regime but put the state on the fast-track of development only when he rejoined hands with the NDA.

The prime minister ignored how the UPA gave Bihar its first IIT in Patna, IIM at Bodh Gaya and two Central Universities in Motihari and Gaya. These UPA doles were in addition to the massive rural electrification in Bihar under the ambitious scheme - Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification, now renamed after late Jan Sangh leader Deen Dayal Upadhaya.

Modi also cautioned the voters about the RJD and reminded them of ‘corrupt regime’, while promising “the NDA government will change Bihar infrastructure if voted to power again.”