MUZAFFARPUR/ DARBHANGA: After his absence for the past few weeks from the electoral scene in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday kickstarted the Opposition’s poll campaign with a handful of scathing jabs aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he would do “anything for votes”.
He accused the BJP of running the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar “by remote control”. Addressing back-to-back joint rallies alongside the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav in these cities, Gandhi said, “You must have seen the drama on TV that Modi was going to take a dip in the Yamuna for Chhath Puja. It was shelved when it was exposed that a puddle had been formed with clean, piped water since the river is so filthy.”
“Narendra Modi is ready to enact all types of drama. You try telling him at a poll rally that, Mr Prime Minister, we will vote for you if you dance. He will readily perform Bharat Natyam,” he claimed.
With just a week to go for the high-stakes assembly polls, the Congress MP pulled no punches as he laid into PM Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He tore into Nitish Kumar for “doing nothing” for backward sections despite having the reins of Bihar for 20 years, before accusing the BJP of “misusing” the JDU supremo’s image to control the state.
“Nitish Ji’s face is being used. The remote control is in the hands of the BJP. You should not think that the voice of the most backward people is heard there. [BJP] has the remote control in their hands, and they have nothing to do with social justice,” he said.
Taking strong exception to the diatribe, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP’s in-charge for the polls in Bihar, said Gandhi’s remarks are against basic norms of civility in public discourse.
Pradhan also said Gandhi does not have the stature to comment on Kumar, who is a revered leader of Bihar and has been in public life for a long time.
“Such remarks betray the feudal mindset of Gandhi and his disciple (shagird) Tejashwi,” he claimed.
Gandhi asserted that under the leadership of former Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, a new government would be formed in Bihar, and it would ensure that the interests of all sections of society, cutting across caste and religious lines, are taken care of.
“The clothes that you wear mostly carry the label made in China. I want to see the day when these shall be replaced by those made in Bihar. But this cannot happen under a dispensation that works for big business houses. It requires a boost to small and medium-scale industries, which the BJP destroyed through measures like demonetisation and flawed GST,” he alleged.
“Two Indias are emerging. One belongs to the common people, and the other to five or 10 billionaires. This is the reason that places like Bihar suffer in poverty, with its vast potential remaining untapped,” he alleged.
Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also pilloried the PM for stating that cheap internet had made social media accessible to even the poor.
“Why does Modi not also reveal that he has allowed the monopoly of one business house in the telecom sector. Moreover, he wants people to get addicted to reels and Instagram because he cannot give them jobs,” he claimed.
He dared PM Modi to refute US President Trump, who has been repeatedly saying that Operation Sindoor was stopped under American pressure.
Recalling the tenure of his late grandmother, Gandhi said, “If you want to understand what a prime minister should be like, you should look at what Indira Gandhi did in 1971 when she had told the then US President, ‘We are not afraid of you.’” His reference was to the 1971 war with Pakistan that resulted in the victory of the Indian forces and the creation of Bangladesh.
Gandhi also alleged that Modi was “not actually a PM elected by people like you but an instrument (auzar)” of big business houses. “You must be able to recall the lavish wedding at Ambanis’ place. You saw Narendra Modi going there. But you did not see Rahul Gandhi. Understand the difference,” he said.
The Congress leader, who had carried out a ‘Voter Adhikar Yatra’ in the state a couple of months ago, renewed his “vote chori” charge and alleged that “they stole the polls in Maharashtra and Haryana. They will try to do the same in Bihar.”
“Theft of votes is an assault on the Constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar. We are committed to protecting the Constitution,” he said.
Gandhi also spoke of the glorious ancient past of Bihar, mentioning the Nalanda University, and said, “Your potential is still evident. People from the state are doing well in Dubai, Mauritius, Seychelles and America.”
Touching upon the voter roll revision exercise in Bihar, which saw nearly 66 lakh names deleted, he urged voters to back the Grand Alliance, promising an inclusive government.
In a post on X, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, “Rahul Gandhi speaks like a ‘local goon’. Rahul Gandhi has openly insulted every poor (person) of India and Bihar who has voted for PM Narendra Modi ji! Rahul Gandhi has mocked voters, and Indian democracy!”