MUZAFFARPUR: Coming down hard on the Bihar government and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged the people of the state to vote for the BJP in the 2025 state assembly elections.
Launching a stinging barb at the Opposition bloc — INDIA, the BJP stalwart said their only agenda is to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a public meeting in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar on Sunday, the Union Home Minister said, “After people voted for the NDA (in the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections), Nitish-ji insulted the mandate (by breaking the alliance and joining hands with the RJD to form the government). His move took Bihar back to its days from the ‘Jungle Raj’.”
Further accusing the JDU and RJD of opposing the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, Shah added, “In the recent G20 summit that we hosted under our presidency of the grouping, every country accepted the ‘Delhi Declaration’ and spoke highly of PM Modi. However, the JDU and RJD have always stood against critical decisions that we took in national interest. Under the leadership of PM Modi, we placed a spacecraft on the uncharted south face of the moon. He also showed the political courage and will to get the women’s quota Bill passed in Parliament.”
Hitting out at INDIA partners, Shah alleged they only left a legacy of corruption in the states they ruled or are ruling currently. He alleged that the INDIA partners were involved in corruption worth a combined Rs 12 lakh crore.
“They (INDIA) have only one agenda, which is to oppose PM Modi. When they were in power, they indulged in corruption amounting to a combined Rs 12 lakh crore. Nitish-ji joined hands with charge-sheeted leaders (RJD chief Lalu Yadav and deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav) to become chief minister. Nitish-ji dreams of becoming the PM but the INDI-alliance has not even given him the role of a coordinator,” Shah added.
On the inaugural caste census conducted by the Bihar government, the BJP leader accused the ruling alliance of insulting people belonging to the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) and manipulating their population data in the state.
“For us, ‘JAM’ stands for Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and Mobile. For the Bihar government, JAM means ‘Jativad’ and ‘Parivarvad’, ‘Apradh’, and Minority appeasement. The alliance partners call themselves the well-wishers of backward classes. However, the decision to conduct a caste census in the state was taken when the BJP-JDU alliance was in power here. The Congress has always stood in opposition to the backward classes. In contrast, PM Modi has always respected the backward sections and has been working for their welfare,” Shah added.
He noted that the Union cabinet, led by PM Modi, has as many as 27 ministers from the OBC. He added that PM Modi has given constitutional recognition to the OBC Commission.
“PM Modi has provided 27 per cent reservation for backward class students in Kendriya Vidyalaya and Sainik Schools. At IITs, the fees for EBC students were waived under the leadership of PM Modi. For NEET exam, he provided reservations for OBC and EBC aspirants. In petrol pump and gas agencies, 27 per cent quota has been provided to EBC people. Through DBT (direct bank transfer), PM Modi has provided fees for pre-matric and post-matric students,” he said.
The INDIA bloc has engaged in appeasement politics but will never announce a CM candidate from among EBCs and OBCs, he added.
“The central government has left no stone unturned for the development of Bihar. During the Sonia-Manmohan government, when Lalu Yadav was the CM, Bihar was given Rs 1,50,000 crore in ten years. However, PM Modi, over the last 9 years, gave Rs 6 lakh crore for the development of the state,” Shah added. (ANI)