Shah Warns of Jungle Raj Return if RJD Wins, Calls Bihar Polls a Battle for the State’s Future

New Delhi/Patna: Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that the impending Assembly election in Bihar is a choice between the "Modi-Nitish combine", which will develop Bihar, and the RJD-helmed Opposition that will "bring back jungle raj". The former BJP president virtually addressed three rallies in Gopalganj, Samastipur and Vaishali, the parliamentary constituency of Union minister Chirag Paswan, from Patna, as he could not reach the venues due to inclement weather.

In Gopalganj, the native district of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mr Shah raked up the "high-handedness" of Sadhu Yadav, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi's estranged brother, to warn people that jungle raj will come back if the Opposition party returns to power.

"This election is an opportunity to decide who should be entrusted with the future of Bihar. On the one hand are those who ushered in jungle raj. On the other hand is the duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, who have brought development," Mr Shah said.

"The people of Gopalganj have never voted for the RJD since 2002. I am sure they will keep up the trend... Nobody knows the kaarnaame (misdeeds) of Sadhu Yadav better than the people of Gopalganj," he added.

Mr Yadav, who had been both the MLA and the MP from Gopalganj, was known to wield tremendous clout while her sister was the CM of the state.

One of the incidents blamed on him was forcefully driving away with cars from a showroom during Rabri Devi's eldest daughter Misa Bharti's wedding in 1999. The incident was also mentioned by Mr Modi at a rally earlier this week, though he did not name anyone.

Another incident in which Mr Yadav's name had cropped up was the Shilpi Gautam murder case that took place in the same year. It was recently in the news when Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor alleged the complicity of Samrat Choudhary, then an RJD leader who is now with the BJP and deputy chief minister of the state, in the case.

The Union home minister also listed the names of the villages in central Bihar which had made headlines during the RJD rule for massacres that took place in an era when several districts of the state were in the throes of a bloody feud between outlawed Naxal groups and private militias of upper-caste landlords.

Mr Shah also spoke of the promises made by the ruling NDA in the manifesto released a day earlier. “There are two major things in the manifesto, one for farmers and one for women, that I want to reiterate. Recently, Mr Kumar and Mr Modi have deposited `10,000 into the accounts of 1.41 crores 'Jeevika Didis'. They will send up to Rs 2 lakh to all Jeevika Didi in different ways. Second, we give Rs 6,000 per year to 27-lakh farmers of Bihar. Now, we will add Rs 3,000 to this and give Rs 9,000," he said.

Mr Shah also said that all the sugar mills in the state will be reopened in the next five years.

At the rally in Samastipur, the Union home minister slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that he "tried to protect infiltrators" by leading the "Voter Adhikar Yatra" a couple of months ago.

"Let Mr Gandhi take out as many yatras as he pleases. Each and every infiltrator will be driven out of the country. The special intensive revision (SIR) is aimed at that and we welcome the Election Commission's decision to carry out the exercise across the country," he said.

Mr Shah also spoke of the Punaura Dham project in the Sitamarhi district. The shrine situated at the birthplace of goddess Sita is being renovated at a cost of Rs 85 crores. "The work will be completed, positively, in two years," he said.

Addressing a rally at Vaishali's Hajipur, the senior BJP leader slammed the Congress for repeatedly invoking the name of B.R. Ambedkar and alleged that "the party has always insulted Baba Saheb. It denied him the Bharat Ratna while in power".

Mr Shah also paid tributes to the late Ram Vilas Paswan, who had represented Hajipur in Lok Sabha a record number of times and was the tallest Dalit leader of his generation in Bihar.

The Union home minister claimed that the NDA will throw out each and every illegal immigrant, who is snatching "food, home and job opportunities" from the people of Bihar".