NEW DELHI, Sept 13: The BJP national president J.P. Nadda on Saturday slammed the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for raising questions on the on-going “Special Intensive Revision” of electoral rolls in Bihar. He also took a dig at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) when the party was in power, terming it a “dark reign.”
Mr Nadda, while addressing a function organised by a media house in Patna, said RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Yadav, who is Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly, should apologise for what happened during their regime.
He asserted that there was a time when engineers and professionals from Bihar were afraid to return home and there was such a terrible environment of kidnapping where ransom rates were fixed. Mr Nadda pointed out that students in universities faced the embarrassment of not being able to take exams on time.
“When we discuss Bihar, two pictures emerge — one of a dark Bihar and the other of a Bihar moving towards light. Earlier, there was the politics of appeasement for vote banks, corruption prevailed in every work, and murder and kidnapping had become commonplace. Today, under the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government, Bihar is advancing on the path of progress,” Mr Nadda said.
He recalled that in 2003, there was an atmosphere of fear in Patna and Bihar. “At that time, an MLA was killed in broad daylight, and the killer was close to Lalu Prasad. There is a big difference between crime and State-supported crime. They just wanted to push Bihar into darkness,” Mr Nadda alleged.
Earlier in the day when Mr Nadda reached Patna airport, he received a warm welcome from Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha. Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal also welcomed him along with other State leaders.
Lashing out at Mr Prasad over his way of running the State, Mr Nadda further said: “In the name of development, Lalu Prasad Yadav used to say — if we build roads, the police will reach quickly and the animals’ hooves will get damaged.”
He charged Mr Prasad for glorifying migration in a bad taste in Bihar saying the RJD founder-president used to say that the people of Bihar go outside wearing a gamchha, and return wearing a suit. “The RJD leadership has not even apologised to the people of Bihar till today for the long dark reign. The question arises that how can someone who does not even realise his mistake shape the future of Bihar? Tejashwi Yadav got the opportunity to run the government twice, but during that time the lack of coordination in important departments like health and the stagnation of schemes was clearly visible,” Mr Nadda said.
“The leaders of the INDI (read INDIA bloc) alliance are just hungry for power; that is their vision and mission. They are only concerned with their own self-interest, and have no concern for the people of Bihar or India,” he added. The Union Minister pointed out that under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar has undergone many significant changes.
Criticising Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising questions on the ongoing SIR ahead of the upcoming Assembly election, Mr Nadda said: “Where does Rahul Gandhi get these figures from in SIR and what is his [knowledge of] Mathematics? There is a saying in Hindi that ‘naach na jaane aangan tedha‘ (blaming the stage for not knowing how to dance.) Similarly, when the public does not bless them in elections, the entire Opposition, including Congress, is blaming the Election Commission. This is an irresponsible Opposition.”
Mr Nadda did not miss the opportunity to attack the Opposition in Bihar over the insult to Mr Modi’s mother. “The Opposition has brought politics to its lowest level. From the Congress platform, abuses were hurled at PM Modi ji’s late mother. Even after this, the top leadership of Congress did not utter a single word, choosing to remain silent. This reflects their character. On the other hand, the AI-generated video posted by Congress that surfaced on social media is proof of how ugly their thinking is. The people of Bihar will give a befitting reply to this,” Mr Nadda said. Later, he also held a meeting with the Bihar BJP leaders in Patna to discuss the election strategy.
(Manas Dasgupta)