Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday targeted his political rivals hoping to make inroads into their vote bank. Invoking names of socialist leaders Ram Manohar Lohia, Jay Prakash Narayan and Karpoori Thakur, Modi said the triumvirate has been ditched by their disciples, who for political gains have joined hands with the Congress.
The <g data-gr-id="47">castes</g> to which Lohia (Vaishya), Jay Prakash Narayan (<g data-gr-id="46">Kayashtha</g>) and Karpoori Thakur (extremely backward class) belong are being aggressively wooed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
The BJP-led NDA is working overtime to break the Muslim-OBC alliance, christened as Mandal-2, put together by incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his bête noire turned alliance partner former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad.
Addressing a massive rally at Bhagalpur’s Aerodrome Ground, Modi said, “ Sunday’s rally (by his rivals in Patna) was a ‘tilanjali rally’ or betrayal of socialist values of leaders like Jay Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. Not just Bihar, but the whole country is disappointed with the (Sunday) rally as there were no answers on how to take Bihar forward.”
Scoffing at the claims of Nitish Kumar of holding a mega rally on Sunday, Modi said, “Such big leaders came together at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan and could only chant Modi, Modi, Modi, Modi, which earlier happened only at NDA <g data-gr-id="38">rallies</g> and his trips abroad.”
In his speech at his fourth and last ‘Parivartan rally’ in Bihar, where elections will be held by November, Modi sought to underscore that it’s the development agenda sets the BJP apart from rival parties.
He said he was “happy” that his announcement last month of a central aid bonanza for Bihar had forced rivals to “come to the issue of development in this election.”
“This election is for the Bihar assembly, those who have ruled for 25 years need to account for their performance, not me. I will furnish a complete account in the Lok Sabha elections,” Modi said, adding that there is a finance commission that decides how much money the Centre will give to the states. The 14th Finance Commission has said that Bihar will get Rs 3.76 lakh crore from Delhi.
“So you tell <g data-gr-id="41">me,</g> if Rs 3.76 crore is coming from us (Centre). You (state) is giving a package of Rs 2.7 lakh crore. Where will the remaining Rs 1.06 lakh crore go? Will the remaining money go into the books of fodder?” Modi asked the huge gathering present at the rally.
Reacting swiftly to Modi’s charges, Bihar CM asked him to “stop chest thumping and show some moral courage to accept his insufficiencies in delivering on old promises”.
In a series of six tweets, Nitish Kumar attacked PM Modi for his DNA remarks and calling Bihar a Bimaru state. Kumar also asked the PM to deliver on his promise of granting special status to Bihar.
“Live up to your 2014 election promise of decriminalization and announce no ticket to candidates with <g data-gr-id="36">criminal</g> background,” Kumar said in another tweet.