PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday kicked off the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar with a sharp attack on the Opposition alliance, accusing them of shielding the corrupt who looted the nation and took away land from the poor in exchange for railway jobs.
“This is the election for the future of the country and Bihar. This is the election to realise the dreams of Bihar. This is the election for a developed India and happy Bihar,” PM Modi said at his first election rally in Bihar at Jamui where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally Chirag Paswan has fielded his brother-in-law Arun Bharti as the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) candidate.
PM Modi said he had grown up in poverty and the poor had always been his government’s top priority. “When the intent is right, the results are always right,” he said, listing how his government has built 3.7 million houses in the state, distributed 8.4 million Ayushman cards and continues to deliver free rations to 90 million people.
PM Modi said people spoke about Bihar’s development after 2005 when Nitish Kumar first became the state’s chief minister. “But let me tell you, a lot more needs to be done for a developed Bihar. What you have seen so far is just a trailer. India and Bihar both have to go a long way,” he said.
He underlined that Nitish Kumar too had been a railway minister but such allegations were not levelled at him. “What an unblemished record he had,” PM Modi said.
The PM said the Congress and the RJD, which thrive on corruption, could not have come up with schemes such as the PM Kisan Samman. “All these people who used to accuse each other of corruption have now come together to hurl abuses at Modi…. But let me tell you, I won’t be deterred. All those who have looted the nation’s money will have to return it,” he added.
Modi said that when the Congress was in power, “terrorists from small countries struggling for wheat supplies could strike at will”.
Nitish Kumar recalled the “frightening situation” in Jamui, once a hotbed of Maoist activity when nobody moved out after dusk.
