‘Dynasts scared of contesting LS polls, trying RS route to enter Parliament’

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the Opposition, saying that “dynasts” were scared to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha and were seeking the Rajya Sabha route to enter Parliament.

He launched a veiled attack on the Congress-RJD alliance in Bihar, claiming the NDA has “pushed to the margins” those who “indulged in dynastic rule and created terror in the minds of the people”. Addressing a rally in Aurangabad district, Modi said it was his “guarantee” to ensure that Bihar witnessed development, the rule of law and that its women lived free from fear.

“Bihar now again has a double-engine government. The NDA has pushed to the margins political dynasts in Bihar,” he said, in an obvious reference to the recent return to the BJP-led coalition of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who was present on the dais. The PM said Bihar is the land of Goddess Sita and enthusiasm was palpable in the state when Ram temple was consecrated in Ayodhya.

He said that Bharat Ratna to former chief minister Karpoori Thakur was an honour for entire Bihar.

“An earlier generation in Bihar had been condemned to live in fear. So many youngsters were forced to migrate. We must not allow those times to return,” Modi said, in an apparent reference to the RJD rule.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled development projects worth Rs 21,400 crore in Bihar’s Aurangabad district on Saturday. The PM unveiled the projects at an official function in Ratanwa village.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Governor Rajendra V Arlekar, Deputy CMs Samat Chaudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, and several Union ministers were among those present at the programme. This is Modi’s first visit to Bihar since the BJP-led NDA returned to power in the state after CM Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), dumped the Mahagathbandhan.

Addressing the programme, Kumar told the Prime Minister that he would remain in the NDA forever. Modi unveiled national highway projects worth over Rs 18,000 crore. He also laid the foundation stone for a six-lane bridge over the Ganga, which will be constructed parallel to the existing JP Ganga Setu.

He dedicated to the nation three railway projects, which include the doubling of the Pataliputra-Pahleja line and a 26-km-long new line between Bandhua and Paimar.