Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday introduced “terror from small countries” into the Lok Sabha poll campaign without naming Pakistan, and accused past Congress governments of weakness on national security.
“Bharat was considered a weak and poor country during Congress rule. Terrorists from small countries that today crave aata (wheat flour) used to return after attacking us. The Congress then used to approach other countries with complaints,” Modi said at a rally in Jamui, the NDA’s first in Bihar since the announcement of the general election.
“This Bharat is the same Bharat of the great Pataliputra, Magadh and Chandragupta Maurya. Aaj ka Bharat ghar me ghus kar maarta hai (Today’s Bharat thrashes them inside their homes). Today’s Bharat shows the way to the world.”
Thrashing enemies “inside their homes” has been a key BJP theme since the 2016 “surgical strikes” on PoK terror camps and the Balakot airstrike of February 2019 that, by all accounts, helped the party immensely during the last general election.
“On the one hand we have parties like the Congress and the RJD that have brought a bad name to the country across the world; on the other are the BJP and the NDA, whose sole aim is to create a developed country,” the Prime Minister said.
Modi cited the various corruption cases in which RJD chief Lalu Prasad has been convicted or accused, and said “the corrupt in the country have come together, but those who have looted the country will have to return it (the loot)”.
Modi said the NDA wanted to take the country towards a solar age while the Opposition INDIA bloc wanted to take it to the “lantern age”. The lantern is the RJD’s election symbol.
Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is contesting from Jamui, which votes on April 19 in the first phase of the elections. Chirag’s brother-in-law (sister’s husband) Arun Bharti is the candidate.
Three other constituencies – Aurangabad, Nawada and Gaya – will also vote in the first phase. The BJP is contesting the first two while former chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular leader Jitan Ram Manjhi is the NDA candidate from Gaya. Modi had addressed a rally at Aurangabad on March 2.
One of the aims of Thursday’s event appeared to be to paint a picture of NDA unity. Chief minister and Janata Dal United national president Nitish Kumar was present and received praise from Modi for his clean image. Modi described Chirag and Arun as his brothers.
Nitish spoke of the poor law-and-order situation in Bihar during RJD rule between 1990 and 2005.
“Nobody could venture out in the evenings. They (Lalu Prasad and son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav) indulge in tall talk today. They got 15 years to rule, but nothing (good) happened in Bihar. We did so much work when we got the opportunity after them,” Nitish said.
Chirag too addressed the gathering.
Modi is to address 16 rallies in Bihar while Union home minister Amit Shah’s schedule includes 23 rallies. They had addressed 11 and 18 public meetings, respectively, in 2019 when the NDA won 39 of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats.
BJP sources told The Telegraph that Modi and Shah would address more rallies compared with 2019 because the fight in Bihar would be tougher this time.
Dynasty tables turned
Tejashwi hit back, using the same stick of “dynasty politics” that the Prime Minister likes to wield against the Opposition parties. The RJD leader underlined that all the four seats for which Modi had come to campaign reeked of family politics.
“The four seats have 100 per cent parivarvadi (dynastic) candidates. Jamui candidate Arun Bharti is the son of former MLC Jyoti Paswan and son-in-law of former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan,” he said.
“Aurangabad candidate Sushil Kumar Singh is son of former MP Ram Naresh Singh; Gaya candidate Manjhi keeps promoting his son and minister Santosh Kumar Suman; Nawada candidate Vivek Thakur is son of former Union minister CP Thakur.”
Tejashwi said the NDA had fielded dynastic candidates from at least 14 of Bihar’s 40 seats.
