Forbesganj/Saharsa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday mocked the Congress for its shrinking numbers in the two Houses of Parliament which have dropped below 100, claiming people were punishing the party for its false promises of poverty eradication and farm loan waiver.
Mounting an unsparing assault on the RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar on the last day of his campaign blitzkrieg to power the NDA to a fourth straight term in office, Modi repeatedly reminded the people of the ‘Jungle Raj’ they presided over when rampant booth capturing robbed the poor of their right to vote.
Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, he asserted, the state had left behind the “darkness of insecurity and anarchy”.
He also said the “friends of jungle raj” were against the people of Bihar chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Jai Shri Ram”.
Modi said the Congress’ “false promises” of poverty eradication, farm loan waiver and one rank-one pension for retired servicemen had left people angry.
“Now, whenever people get an opportunity, they punish the Congress. Public anger has reduced the party to such a sorry state that it has been left with less than 100 MPs in both Houses of Parliament together.
“In states like UP and Bihar, they have been relegated to the third, fourth of fifth position, and are piggybacking on other parties for survival,” he said, taking a swipe at the main opposition party while addressing an election meeting in Forbesganj town of Araria district.
The BJP won nine of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats, results of which were declared on Monday, taking its tally up to 92 in the Upper House and bringing down the Congress’ to 38.
It’s for the first time in its history that the Congress has just 89 lawmakers in Parliament.
Addressing the rally when the 2nd phase of the state assembly polls were under way, the prime minister said the voting trend suggested people had rejected the “double yuvraj” (two crown princes), an expression he has coined for Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav.
“In Bihar, rangbaazi (rowdyism) and rangdaari (extortion) are losing and vikas (development) and kanoon kaa raj (rule of law) is winning, parivarvaad (dynasty rule) is being defeated by janatantra (democracy), and sweat of labour is set to triumph over arrogance,” he asserted.
Recalling the state’s notoriety for booth capturing in the 1990s, the prime minister said, “They (NDA’s predecessors in government) had deprived the poor of even their right to vote. The poor were not even allowed to set their foot out of their home on the voting day. The NDA restored their right to vote, empowered them.” The prime minister said under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar had left behind the darkness of “insecurity and anarchy” of the RJD rule. (PTI)
