Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the BJP-JD(U) alliance will return to power in Bihar with a brute majority. Addressing an election rally in Forbesganj of Araria district in the northern part of the state, the PM said that people of Bihar have given a clear message that the NDA will form the government again.
"The return of double-engine government in Bihar will help the state progress at a faster pace," the Prime Minister said as he dismissed suggestions of anti-incumbency against the Nitish Kumar government.
He said that the NDA had spent the last decade meeting the people's "needs and was now focused on taking care of their aspirations".
Attacking RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Congress' Rahul Gandhi, he repeated the the "double yuvraj" jibe. "They've been rejected by the state."
"In Bihar, rangbaazi (rowdyism) and rangdaari (extortion) are losing and vikas (development) and kanoon kaa raaj (rule of law) is winning, parivarvaad (dynasty rule) is being defeated by janatantra (democracy)," he asserted.
Modi said that NDA's predecessors in government had deprived the poor of even their right to vote. "It is the NDA which empowered the downtrodden in the state again."
PM Modi also counted the works done his government. He said that the NDA succeeded in bringing gas cylinders to every household.
"Now we shall be graduating to gas pipelines. In the decade that went by, we built roads, now we are building airports and giving a facelift to the existing ones," he said.
Slamming the Congress, PM Modi said that the grand old party has always made false promises of poverty eradication, farm loan waiver and one rank-one pension for retired servicemen.
"This is the reason why the party is now left with less than 100 MPs in both Houses of Parliament combined. In states like UP and Bihar they have been relegated to the third, fourth of fifth position and are piggybacking other parties for survival," he said.
Bihar is the the first state to go to polls in the midst of pandemic. The Election Commission of India has made elaborate arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the democratic exercise with strict Covid guidelines in place. Polling in the first phase on October 28 covered 71 seats. The turnout was over 55%. Polling in the second phase is taking place today, covering 94 constituencies. The remaining 78 seats will go to polls in the third phase on November 7. The results will be declared on November 10.
