Shah, on three-day visit to poll-bound Bihar, meets Nitish in Patna
PATNA, Oct 17: Criticising the RJD’s poll promise of a government job to every family in Bihar, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday sought to know from where the funds will be generated to pay the salaries.
Addressing a gathering of intellectuals in Patna, Shah dubbed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in the state as ‘ghuspetiya bachao yatra’ (save infiltrator yatra), asserting that the BJP won’t allow illegal immigrants in the country.
“There are 2.8 crore families in Bihar. Approximately 20 lakh people have government jobs. Now, Tejashwi Yadav has promised that he will give government jobs to 2.6 crore families. But to provide so many jobs, Rs 12 lakh crore is needed, which is four times the budget of Bihar,” he claimed.
“This is a completely baseless and misleading promise to get votes. From where will the money come to pay the salaries?” he asked.
Hitting out at the Congress, Shah said not a single infiltrator will be allowed to stay in the country.
“BJP’s policy is quite clear. India is not a ‘dharamshala’. Rahul ‘baba’, lead whatever yatra you want to lead. But, as long as the BJP is here, we will not allow infiltrators to live here,” he said.
“You tell me, should the names of infiltrators be on Bihar’s voters’ list? We support the Election Commission’s initiative. Not just in Bihar, infiltrators must be removed from the voters’ list of the entire country. Rahul ‘baba’ is leading a ‘ghuspetiya bachao yatra’, let him do that,” he said.
Shah said CM Nitish Kumar laid the foundation of good governance during the initial years of his tenure, which is why he is called ‘Sushasan Babu’.
“He did three major works during Bihar 1.0. He freed the state from ‘jungle raj’ and restored law and order. He freed the state from corruption and provided reservations for women in government jobs,” the senior BJP leader said.
“During the 11 years of the double-engine government, the partnership between PM Modi and the CM has worked to restore Bihar’s lost dignity. Now, Bihar is ready to move forward. Bihar is ready to reclaim its position in the country’s politics, economy, education system, and agricultural system. During the 15 years of ‘jungle raj’, Bihar lost all its dignity, splendour, and excellence in every sphere,” he alleged.
Claiming that it took years for Kumar to bring the state back on track due to the damage caused by RJD chief Lalu Prasad’s rule, Shah said that now the foundation has been laid to make a “developed Bihar”.
He urged the voters to opt for the “politics of performance” and dump “parties like Congress and RJD that promote dynasts”.
SHAHABUDDIN’S SON TO MAKE DEBUT ON RJD TICKET
Gangster-turned-politician Mohd Shahabuddin’s son Osama is all set to make his political debut in Bihar, on an RJD ticket, from the Raghunathpur assembly segment in Siwan, considered a fiefdom of his late father, who was a multiple-term party MP.Osama, 31, has filed his nomination papers from Raghunathpur.
In his affidavit, he has disclosed immovable and movable assets worth over Rs 2.31 crore. Her spouse holds immovable and movable assets worth more than Rs 5.70 crore.
Osama also faces several criminal cases, which mostly pertain to the Arms Act, 1959.
Shahabuddin, a four-term MP of Lalu Prasad’s RJD, had been convicted in cases of murder and attempt to murder.
RJD CONG RIFT DEEPENS
The ongoing rift within the Grand Alliance (Mahagathbandhan) came to the fore on Friday, when Shivani Shukla, daughter of Bahubali leader Munna Shukla, filed her nomination as an RJD candidate from the Lalganj Assembly seat, even though the seat had been allocated to the Congress under the alliance arrangement.
The Congress had announced Aditya Kumar Raja as its official candidate from Lalganj.
However, tensions flared at the sub-divisional office when Raja arrived to file his nomination, accompanied by Purnea MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav.After submitting her nomination papers, Shivani Shukla publicly thanked RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav for allowing her to contest the election on the RJD ticket.
Soon after, a scuffle broke out between supporters of both sides, leading to chaos in the area.
The situation was later brought under control following the intervention of security personnel.
The incident has once again raised serious questions about the unity and coordination within the Grand Alliance in Bihar.
Sources said the impasse stems from the Congress’s insistence on contesting 70 seats, the same number it contested in the 2020 Assembly elections, when it managed to win only 19 seats – a strike rate of 27 per cent.
RJD leaders, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav, are reportedly unwilling to repeat the 2020 arrangement, arguing that the Congress’s poor performance cost the Grand Alliance the majority mark of 122 seats last time. (Agencies)
