In the summer of 2021, Bengal saw chief minister Mamata Banerjee take a raucous BJP on from a wheelchair and win the Assembly elections, making light of a foot injury.
Three years on, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, battling a debilitating backache, is defying doctors' orders to spearhead the INDIA campaign in Bihar in a wheelchair.
The former deputy chief minister, on painkillers and wheelchair-bound for the past few days, held eight back-to-back rallies in the Munger, Begusarai and Samastipur Lok Sabha constituencies on Thursday.
"I am taking painkiller injections and medicines to be with you. Doctors have strapped a belt around my waist. They have prescribed bed rest for three weeks and asked me not to stand up or walk," Tejashwi said at a rally in Munger, lifting his kurta to show his orthopaedic belt.
"Still, I’m here among you. Elections come once in five years and if I don’t fight for you now, you will have to suffer poverty, inflation and unemployment again for five years. I will not stay silent until I have provided jobs to the youth."
The RJD leader’s backache started around a week ago and got aggravated because of his non-stop electioneering, RJD sources said. He was forced to visit the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna for an MRI scan on Monday after finding himself unable to stand up.
Doctors have told him that his backache is a result of his hectic travel schedule since February. After crisscrossing Bihar with a Jan Vishwas Yatra, Tejashwi has followed it up with around 120 election rallies so far.
At his meetings, he has been as aggressive as ever, labelling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "a big liar" with a string of unfulfilled promises behind him.
"Ten years ago, Modi promised to bring in 'achhe din' (good days), bring back the black money stashed in foreign countries and deposit Rs 15 lakh in every Indian’s bank account, and give 2 crore jobs to the youth every year. But he forgot them (the promises)," Tejashwi said at Bachhwara in Begusarai.
"In 2019, Modi promised to double the income of farmers, give pucca houses to all the poor, stop inflation, remove poverty, provide special category status to Bihar, and revive the defunct sugar mills in the state. He did not keep any of his promises."
The RJD leader also stressed the need to provide jobs to the youth.
Asking the people to remove the BJP and save the country, Tejashwi said: "Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi impose as many cases he wants or deploy the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate against Laluji (Lalu Prasad), we will chase the BJP away with the support of the people. We will not rest until we have broken the back of the BJP."
He poked fun at the BJP toning down its slogan of "400-plus" seats.
"How long could anybody take recourse to lies? The public has become bored and is taking them to task. Only three phases are over so far. Four phases still remain and the people will do justice," he said.
