Campaign for first phase of Bihar polls ends, polling for 121 seats on Nov 6
NEW DELHI/PATNA, Nov 4: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that the people of Bihar have made up their mind to ensure that the NDA breaks the record of its scale of victory in the last 20 years and not allow the return of “jungle raj people”, who would suffer their worst-ever defeat in the upcoming assembly elections.
The prime minister also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, saying the two “princes” have been roaming across the state and the one from Delhi had even insulted ‘Chhathi Maiya’.
Modi urged the women to ensure that they turn out in huge numbers to ensure a mega win for the NDA and forfeiture of deposits of those who insulted Chhathi Maiya and brought “jungle raj” to Bihar.
“The women workers of the Bihar BJP are doing splendid work with the resolve of ‘Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot’,” Modi said, interacting with women BJP-NDA workers in Bihar via NaMo App.
The campaigning for the first phase of elections in Bihar concluded on Tuesday.
Modi said he has been addressing public meetings in Bihar and every rally was breaking the record of the previous one, with women turning up in very large numbers.
“I have been observing the polls closely and it is confirmed that the NDA is winning and it is winning big. So, I have no questions about the victory but (I want) there should be more and more polling,” the prime minister said.
Interacting with a BJP worker, who said there is tremendous enthusiasm among the people for the NDA, Modi said her words echo the feeling prevailing among the poor, Dalits, Maha Dalits, backward and extremely backward sections of the society.
“People of Bihar have made up their mind to break the record of the scale of victory of the NDA in the last 20 years while the ‘jungle raj people’ will suffer their worst defeat in the state,” he said.
The prime minister has been using the “jungle raj” analogy to attack the Mahagathbandhan. ‘Jungle raj’ is an apparent reference to the time when Bihar was under the rule of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi.
In his remarks, Modi said the NDA government is committed to improving the ease of living for women and empowering them.
“Women get opportunities to progress when good governance prevails and the rule of law is established in the state. That is why the daughters of Bihar are now becoming job providers through self-employment,” he said.
The prime minister said that during the era of jungle raj, it was difficult for women to step out of their homes, but now that is not the case.
“Now, women work fearlessly in hospitals, railway stations and other places even during night hours,” he said.
“The women of Bihar have stood like a wall against jungle raj,” Modi said, adding that they have resolved to never allow the return of those unruly times.
“This is the reason the proponents of jungle raj are busy telling all sorts of lies to the women of Bihar,” he said.
FIRST PHASE CAMPAIGN ENDS
The campaign for the first phase of the Bihar elections, in which polling will be held for 121 seats, ended on Tuesday evening.
The campaigning ended at 6 PMwith the ruling and opposition parties leaving no stone unturned to reach out to voters on the last day.
The prominent seats that will go to the polls in the first phase on November 6 are Tejashwi Yadav’s Raghopur, Mahua, from where his brother Tej Pratap Yadav is trying his luck with a new political outfit, and Tarapur, from where Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary is fighting the elections.
The other seats in focus in this phase are Alinagar, from where singer Maithili Thakur is fighting the elections on a BJP ticket, Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha’s Lakhisarai, Mokama — where the JD(U) candidate is strongman Anant Singh, who has been arrested in the murder case of his opponent Dular Chand Yadav, and Raghunathpur, where the RJD candidate is late gangster-turned-politician Md Shahabuddin’s son Osama Shahab.
Polling for the rest of the 122 seats in the 243-member assembly will be held on November 11, and the votes will be counted on November 14. (PTI)
