The BJP is gearing up to turn the Bihar Assembly elections into a mammoth public relations exercise for various central schemes and the battle against Covid-19.
“Our party workers have to knock at every door and approach all sections of the society to take to them the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the central government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar. We have given a package of Rs 20 lakh crore to make the country self-reliant,” BJP national president J.P. Nadda said.
He was speaking through video on the last day of the two-day BJP state executive committee meeting in view of the forthcoming Assembly polls. The tenure of the Vidhan Sabha ends on November 29.
Nadda reeled off names of dozens of schemes and the amounts sanctioned for each of them by the Centre, including several meant for the poor, the migrant workers, youths, women, farmers, small entrepreneurs and the economy. He asked BJP leaders to focus on the Rs 50,000-crore Garib Kalyan Rozgar Yojana — a scheme meant to provide employment to the poor that was launched by Modi from Bihar.
Senior party leaders, including Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Giriraj Singh, Nityanand Rai and Ashwini Choubey, national general secretary and BJP Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal and several others joined the meeting from Patna and Delhi.
“Every party worker has to tell the people how we fought against Covid to save 130 crore people and the economy, both under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by taking the timely and bold decision to impose the lockdown,” Nadda said.
He pointed out how over 1,500 dedicated Covid hospitals, 12.5 lakh beds and 2,000 testing centres with an overall testing capacity of 10 lakh per day had been set up across the country and highlighted that the recovery rate among Covid patients had improved to 74 per cent.
“There was a time when not a single PPE kit was produced in the country. All PPEs were imported from outside. But our Prime Minister Modi encouraged entrepreneurs here and now 4.5 lakh PPE kits are produced daily. The country has manufactured 50,000 ventilators, too, so far,” Nadda said.
The BJP national president drew attention to the fact that over 1 lakh Covid tests were being conducted daily in Bihar, in addition to a door-to-door screening that has covered 10 crore people so far. He said the state had fought aggressively against Covid under the guidance of senior BJP leader and health minister Mangal Pandey.
Nitish Kumar Telegraph picture
Bihar has recorded over 1.2 lakh cases so far, including over 600 deaths. Though around 1 lakh tests are being conducted daily now after a sluggish start, the number of positive cases has shown a decline, triggering questions on the quality of the tests. The Opposition parties have publicly doubted the figures and alleged that the state government was tampering with data in a bid to hold elections on time to avoid President’s rule.
Asking BJP workers to conduct small meetings and door-to-door visits to increase the effectiveness of the poll campaign, Nadda said victory has been achieved whenever the BJP, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) have contested the elections together.
“This time also we will contest together and emerge victorious. The BJP will fight in every single booth and win. But this will not be enough. Our workers will have to ensure that our allies also win,” Nadda said.
The BJP president claimed that the Opposition in Bihar was “a spent force, which has no strength, thoughts, vision, or the determination to serve the people. It just indulges in hollow politics.”
BJP national general secretary and Bihar in-charge Bhupendra Yadav attacked the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and its chief Lalu Prasad. Yadav said the party’s slogan for the impending polls would be “BJP hai taiyar, atmanirbhar Bihar (BJP is ready, self-dependent Bihar)”.
