Modi: Will fulfil Bihar’s dreams with Nitish

New Delhi/ Patna: Ending speculation about whether Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will helm the government if the NDA wins the impending polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that “Narendra and Nitish” are committed to fulfilling Bihar’s dreams. Addressing back-to-back rallies in Muzaffarpur and Chhapra, Modi asserted that the NDA will make Bihar a "state of opportunity", but the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc comprising the RJD-Congress has come together to "loot" the state.

Urging the people of the state to repose their trust in the ruling NDA, the Prime Minister said, "The Narendra-Nitish combine is committed to fulfilling your dreams.”

Addressing his first public meeting after the Chhath Mahaparv in Muzaffarpur, the Prime Minister charged the Opposition Congress-RJD combine with insulting "Chhathi Maiyya", having problems with the Ram temple at Ayodhya and "protecting infiltrators" for the politics of votebank and appeasement.

"It is my first tour of Bihar after Chhath Puja, which is now famous the world over. The festival stands not just for devotion but also for equality, a reason why my government is trying to get a Unesco heritage tag for this festival," Modi said, adding that he listens to Chhath songs while travelling.

“But while this son of yours is busy ensuring that Chhath gets the honour that is due, the Congress-RJD people are heaping scorn on the festival, calling it a drama, a nautanki," Modi said in a veiled attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had at a poll rally on Wednesday claimed that the Prime Minister would do "anything for votes, even dance".

"Look at the depths to which these people (the Congress-RJD leaders) can stoop while seeking votes. This is an insult to the festival of Chhath that Bihar will not forget for centuries," Modi said.

"Just look at the contempt these people have for the people of Bihar. One of their leaders, while holding the post of Punjab chief minister, had declared at a public rally that Biharis should be driven away. And the daughter of a big family in the Congress, who is now sitting in the Parliament, giggled and clapped," he said.

The allusion was to an incident involving former Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Hitting out at the RJD-Congress alliance, Modi said that they can never develop Bihar. He said the two parties have come together to grab power so that they can "loot" the state.

“They ruled the state for years, yet only betrayed the people. Their identity is built on five things — guns, cruelty, bitterness, misrule and corruption. Where violence and cruelty prevail, law collapses. Where they spread bitterness, social harmony breaks. Where their misrule remains, development comes to a halt. And where corruption thrives, social justice disappears, and the poor lose their rights while only a few families prosper,” Modi said.

Modi also alleged that the Congress-RJD combine stand for five 'Ks' -- "katta (country-made weapons lawlessness), "kroorta" (cruelty), "katuta" (social resentment), "kushasan" (misgovernance) and corruption.

The Prime Minister remarked, with a hint of alarm, "What type of songs are being played at the RJD rallies? These speak of 'katta', 'chhura' (dagger), 'dunaali' (double-barreled guns) and kidnapping of sisters and daughters."

Modi claimed that 35,000-40,000 abductions took place during the RJD regime in the state and "goons used to loot vehicle showrooms", an indirect reference to the wedding of Misa Bharti, the eldest daughter of former chief minister Rabri Devi, who is currently the Lok Sabha Member from Patliputra.

"The NDA, on the other hand, stands for preserving and honouring cultural heritage and ensuring all-round development of all states, including Bihar," Mr Modi asserted, who began his Muzaffarpur speech by making the crowds chant "phir ek baar NDA sarkar" and "phir ek baar susashan sarkar" (NDA government once again, good governance once again).

"Your parents voted for ending jungle raj, you have to vote for a prosperous Bihar," Modi told the young voters.

The Prime Minister also made a mention of the Golu kidnapping and murder case of 2001, involving the eight-year-old son of a bank employee in Muzaffarpur, which had remained in headlines. He alleged that during the RJD regime, the Bihar chief minister's office had turned into a haven for mafias.

Without mentioning Champa Biswas by name, he also spoke of "the wife of an IAS officer writing to the then governor of Bihar that she has been raped by leaders of the ruling party".

In a dig at Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, Modi said that in Bihar’s election season, two "yuvraajs"-- one from India’s most corrupt political family and the other from Bihar’s most corrupt family—have opened a shop of false promises. He pointed out that both are out on bail in multi-thousand crore scams.

The Prime Minister further stated that these "naamdaars" have spent their speeches abusing him, but this is nothing new, for the elite political families, insulting the poor, the backward and the disadvantaged has always been their birthright.

“They even abuse my mother and my family, only because they cannot tolerate that a person from a humble, backward background has reached here,” he said.

The Prime Minister remarked that the real news of this Bihar election is not the abuses hurled at him, but the open infighting between the RJD and the Congress. “Their alliance is like oil and water, pretending unity on stage, fighting each other at the ground level. What has brought them together is only the greed for power so that these corrupt families can once again loot Bihar,” he said.

Modi noted that every survey clearly shows that the Opposition Mahagathbandhan is heading towards their worst defeat, while the ruling NDA is set for a historic victory. He said that the Opposition’s manifesto is full of lies, "so exaggerated that even their own supporters cannot digest it, and Bihar’s youth are openly mocking them on social media".

While addressing his second rally of the day in Chhapra, Modi said that when he sees the respect for Bhojpuri across India and the world, it fills him with immense pride.

Hitting out at the Opposition, Modi accused the I.N.D.I.A. bloc of spreading lies about industry and jobs. He recalled that Madhepura and Marhowrah were once flourishing industrial hubs, famous nationwide for products like the "lemonchus" candy, but jungle raj under the RJD destroyed factories through extortion, goonda tax and fear, leaving thousands unemployed.

Modi contrasted this with the NDA era, where engines made in Marhowrah’s rail factory are now being exported to Africa, and assured that Bihar will once again become a proud "Made in India" centre, with jobs for Bihar’s youth in Bihar.