Winding up his election campaign in Bihar on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that if the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)-led Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) were voted to power, people would not even be allowed to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ or ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
Addressing an election meeting at Forbesganj in the bordering district Araria, dominated by Muslims, the Prime Minister said that those supporting the Grand Alliance were against the chanting of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
Without naming MIM leaders, Modi said that RJD supporters get a ‘headache’ when chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
He later addressed another meeting at Saharsa in northern Bihar.
The bordering areas to Bangladesh and Nepal have sizable minorities population with Kishanganj having over 65% minorities voters.
Congress president, Rahul Gandhi was also in the Seemanchal area today and sought votes for the Grand Alliance candidates in Katihar and Kishanganj.
The lone Congress member in Lok Sabha from Bihar is from Kishanganj and the remaining 20 are with BJP and 19 with JDU.
The Prime Minister said ‘development’ was the need of the hour and Bihar deserved another term under NDA for development and peace. He gave details of the allotments of central schemes in Araria, claiming 3.5 lakh women got free LPG cylinders and ovens, while 4.25 lakh lavatories were constructed in the district. Under the PM Awas Yojana, 25 lakh poor would get houses in Bihar, he said.
Prime Minister Modi continued his attack on RJD leader Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav without naming him and said the ‘Yuvraj of Jungle Raj’ would not allow women to be safe on the streets after sunset.
Employment was the main issue for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who will be addressing two more meetings on Wednesday. Today, he said that the Prime Minister did not fulfil commitments made to the youth in 2014 to generate two crores job every year.
Seeking votes for Congress candidate Poonam Paswan, Rahul said that migrant workers who were forced to return during lockdown are yet to get employment and assistance. The maize growing farmers are not getting minimum support price, he said, assuring the people that if the RJD-led government were to be voted to power, food processing plants would be set up in Seemanchal, where maize is the main agriculture produce. Notably, the NDA government has closed down the agriculture markets all over the country and farmers are not getting due prices for the products.
RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, while speaking at four different constituencies in Madhepura, promised one million jobs on the first day of the Grand Alliance government, enhancement of old-age pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1000 per month. He sought votes for Subhashini Yadav, daughter of former MP from Madhepura, Sharad Yadav.
