Opposition Yatra is to Back Illegals: Shah

Addressing the BJP workers' conclave in Bihar’s Rohtas district and then Begusarai, Mr Shah called upon the party workers to ensure the victory of the ruling NDA led in the state by Mr Kumar. The senior BJP leader also underscored that Bihar had reaped “the maximum benefits” of schemes launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, like the Ayushman Bharat Yojana and the Jan Dhan bank accounts.

In a veiled attack at Mr Gandhi, Mr Shah said, “Our leader (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is someone who works for the people without ever going on a holiday. In sharp contrast with others who tend to grow restless unless they enjoy a trip abroad every six months. And you know who I am talking about."

Mr Shah asked the party workers to counter the INDIA bloc's “false narrative” of vote theft by cautioning the people that rampant “infiltration is likely" if the Opposition coalition comes to power in the state.

Tearing into the Congress, the RJD, and the Left combined, Mr Shah asked the cadre to aim at “not just a simple victory but a massive two-thirds majority” in the upcoming polls for the 243-strong Bihar Assembly.

Referring to the Opposition's Voter Adhikar Yatra, which concluded last month, Mr Shah alleged, "The BJP workers know what its aim was? It was to protect infiltrators from Bangladesh… Should the infiltrators have the right to vote in our country? Should they have access to all the benefits that the citizens enjoy?” His remarks evoked roars of a resounding "no" from the attendees.

"Rahul baba and company want the infiltrators, who are their vote bank, to be given jobs meant for our youths, pucca houses and free medical treatment we provide our citizens with… The BJP workers must fan out across the state, visit every house, and tell the people that if they (the INDIA bloc parties) come to power, even by fluke, every district in Bihar will be teeming with infiltrators," Mr Shah further alleged.

Terming the Oppositions’ vote chori allegation as a “false narrative”, Mr Shah pointed out that “they (the Opposition parties) had taken recourse to similar tactics earlier when they had alleged that we were out to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs”.

"Have the quotas for SCs, STs, and OBCs been tinkered with? I can assure you that as long as there is even one BJP member in Parliament, reservations cannot be scrapped," said Mr Shah.

The former BJP president, whose first stopover was at Rohtas's Dehri-on-Sone, where he interacted with party workers from 10 districts of south Bihar known as the Magadh-Shahabad region, expressed concern over the NDA's performance in the last Assembly polls being "not up to the mark" in the area. After his address in Rohtas district, Mr Shah addressed another BJP workers' conclave in Begusarai, where party cadres of nearly 10 districts of the Mithila region were present.

At the two conclaves, Mr Shah exhorted the party workers to ensure “an 80 per cent strike rate for the BJP as well as for our alliance partners”.

The Union home minister also lauded the chief minister for recent populist measures like making 125 units of power available free of cost every month.

He also laid stress on the need for smooth coordination with alliance partners like JD(U), headed by Mr Kumar who paid him a visit in the state capital earlier in the day, and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) of Union minister Chirag Paswan.