PATNA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday expressed confidence that the national democratic alliance (NDA) would return to power with a full majority in the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar due in October-November this year. Addressing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers’ conclave in Bihar’s Begusarai, Shah said that the NDA would win the election in such a big way that Opposition leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav would not dare to contest elections next time.
Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar, Shah said that the Yatra mainly aimed at shielding Bangladeshi infiltrators. “Voter Adhikar Yatra nahi wo ghuspaithiye bachao yatra thi (The yatra was not for saving voters’ rights, but to shield infiltrators),’ he asserted.
He cautioned the people against Opposition alliance’s poll strategy. “If they (Opposition parties) come to power even by fluke, every district in Bihar will be teeming with infiltrators,” he said, urging party workers to make people aware of the impending danger during the election campaign.
“You must fan out across the state, visit every house and tell the people that if they come to power, even by fluke, every district of Bihar will be teeming with infiltrators,” the former BJP national president asserted. He said that the names of infiltrators had been deleted by the Election Commission during special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.
“The Opposition tried to set a (wrong) narrative by raising SIR issue but the names of bona fide voters had not been deleted,” he claimed. Union minister also highlighted the achievements of the Narendra Modi government at the centre and its assistance to the NDA government in Bihar.
Taking a swipe at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Shah said that Lalu wanted to know about the Narendra Modi government’s assistance to the Bihar government. Shah said that several projects have been initiated in the state with the centre’s financial aid. He revealed that the Narendra Modi government provided Rs 9.45 lakh crore to Bihar between 2014 to 2024. On the contrary, the UPA government, in which Lalu was a minister, had provided a little over Rs 2 lakh crore between 2004 and 2014, he added.
He claimed that the NDA government in Bihar was working towards building a developed Bihar with full support of the Centre. He also exhorted party workers to go door to door and inform people about the steps taken by the Nitish government for the welfare of Anganwadi workers, Mamta Didis, Jeevika Didis, youth and women.
He said that infiltration would gain alarming proportions in Bihar if opposition parties came to power even by mistake. Earlier, Shah addressed workers and leaders of the party at Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas district, where he appealed them to apprise people of welfare schemes and development works undertaken under the Modi-Nitish regime in Bihar. He also appealed to workers to ensure the victory of each NDA candidate in their respective constituencies.
Before leaving for Dehri-on-Sone, Amit Shah met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the state capital. The meeting between Shah and Nitish has fuelled speculations over seat-sharing talks within the NDA camp. Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary and JD(U) national working president Sanjay Jha were also present at the meeting. The meeting comes at a time when dissension within NDA has grown over seat-sharing. Smaller allies of NDA have demanded more number of seats for the assembly polls, causing trouble for the top leaders of BJP and JD(U). People familiar with the meeting between Nitish and Shah said that the talks centred around a seat-sharing deal and overall election strategy for the NDA in Bihar.