BETTIAH/MADHUBANI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday addressed election rallies in Bettiah, Motihari and Madhubani as 18 districts went to the polls in the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections, accusing the Opposition, RJD, of having pushed Bihar “into a mess” about 20 years ago.
At Bettiah, Shah made a confident prediction: “The counting will begin at 8:00 am on November 14 and by 11:00 am, Lalu and Rahul’s party will be finished. Under the leadership of Modi ji and Nitish ji, the NDA will once again form the government in Bihar with a massive majority.”
Cautioning voters, Shah said, “If by some mistake our government does not form and the thugbandhan (referring to the Mahagathbandhan) comes to power, then our Champaran will once again become a mini-Chambal. Do you want to bring back jungle raj? Do you want murder, kidnappings, dacoities and extortion to start again? If you do not want that, then on November 3, press the button on the lotus symbol.”
Shah also said that if an NDA government was formed, it would make Bihar completely free from floods within five years.
Referring to the Ram temple, Shah alleged that Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Congress wanted to stop its construction.
“Mother Sita was born right here in our Bihar. In Bihar, both of Ram’s sons, Luv and Kush, were born. The first meeting of Ram and Sita took place in Bihar. It was Ram who rescued Ahalya in Bihar. Don’t worry — two months ago, Nitish Kumar ji and I went to Sitamarhi for the bhumi pujan. Within two years, a grand temple to Sita Mata will be built at a cost of Rs 850 crore,” he said, giving the campaign an emotional touch.
Shah added that along with the temple, the doubling of the railway line from Sitamarhi to Ayodhya would be completed. “On the day the temple’s pratishtha happens, we will start a Vande Bharat train running from Ayodhya to Sitamarhi,” he said.
Taking up the issue of infiltration, Shah asked, “Should Bangladeshi infiltrators be removed from Bihar’s voter lists or not? Just now Rahul Baba led a Ghuspethiya Bachao yatra; he said keep infiltrators on the voter rolls. Should Bangladeshis decide who will be Bihar’s Chief Minister? Infiltrators take jobs from our youth, demand a share of rations meant for the poor, and make the country insecure. From the land of Ramnagar today I say: do as many yatras and press conferences as you like, Rahul Baba — the Bharatiya Janata Party from all over the country and from Bihar will identify and remove every single infiltrator.”
Declaring that the election was dedicated to ending infiltration, Shah said, “The upcoming election is an election to make Bihar free of infiltrators. In West Champaran at Kumarbagh, we have set up a Special Economic Zone. In Chanpatia, we are developing an industrial area and a startup zone. Chanpatia’s textiles are reaching global markets, and we will make the Kesriya Stupa a world heritage site.” He also promised an airport in West Champaran.
“We have also built a Toy Park in West Champaran. The Tharu community was granted Scheduled Tribe status by our Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji. Modi ji has many schemes in mind for the Tharu community, but because of the election we cannot speak of them now. Once the NDA government forms, we will roll out major schemes for the Tharu community,” he said.
Recalling how West Champaran was once the sugar bowl of eastern India, Shah said, “The chimneys of sugar mills used to billow smoke and farmers used to get paid. The sweetness of our sugar reached across the country. But under jungle raj, extortion caused these mills to shut down one after another — locks were put on Champaran’s sugar mills too. We have restarted the sugar mill at Rega.”
He assured voters that the BJP and NDA would work to reopen all closed sugar mills in Bihar within the next five years.
Shah also listed projects completed in West Champaran, including the Patna–Bettiah four-lane road, the widening of National Highway 28 from Bagaha to Bettiah, and the four-lane road No. 139 from Digha to Bettiah.
In Motihari, Shah said the Congress now wanted to rule Bihar again by “sitting on Lalu’s shoulders.”
“But I want to tell Rahul ji — the one whose shoulders you’re riding on is going to lose, and you are going to lose too. Do you want to bring back jungle raj again? Can kidnappings, murders, extortion, and dacoities ever do any good for Bihar? If the RJD candidate from here wins even by mistake, will jungle raj return or not? Only the team of Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi can stop jungle raj,” he said.
“Lalu ji’s son raised the slogan, ‘Shahabuddin amar rahe’ (long live Shahabuddin), and gave a ticket to his son. But I want to tell you, Lalu ji — even if three generations of your family come to power, Bihar will never again see the rise of goons like Shahabuddin.”
In Madhubani, Shah said, “A large airport is going to be built in Madhubani. In Benipatti, a medical college will be built. Recently, Rahul Baba said that we should find out how many people from each caste and each religion are in our Army. Rahul Baba, shame on you — shame on you! You want to divide our Army on the basis of religion and caste.”
He criticised Rahul Gandhi’s comments about caste in the Army. “In our Army, no matter which caste a brave soldier belongs to, we respect every single one of them. The PFI had spread all the way to Phulwarisharif. It was an anti-national organisation that wanted to break India into pieces. Modi ji, in just one night, banned PFI from Kerala to Phulwarisharif and put all its members behind bars. And Lalu Yadav says they should be released — Lalu ji, let me tell you, they will never be released,” he asserted.