Modi wraps up Bihar poll campaign | Voters gave Oppn a ‘65-volt jhatka’: PM

Sitamarhi/Bettiah: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday claimed that people have given the Opposition INDIA bloc a “65-volt jhatka” in the first phase of Assembly elections in Bihar in terms of high voter turnout, and now they are spending “sleepless nights”.

Modi wound up his extensive campaign for Assembly polls in Bihar, where he cautioned voters that if the RJD-led Opposition came to power, it would order them to hold their “hands up” by placing a “katta” on their head.

Appearing confident of an NDA win, PM Modi claimed that the high turnout in the first phase was in favour of the ruling coalition.

“You have given a 65 volt shock to the opposition which is now having sleepless nights”, said Modi, referring to the 65.09 per cent turnout registered across 121 assembly segments where voting was held on November 6.

He urged the electors to “break the record of the first phase on November 11” and ensure that the NDA not just wins “all the seats but establishes a lead in every booth”.

Modi, who addressed a total of 14 rallies across the state, besides a roadshow in Patna, packed in a timespan of less than one month, reflected on his campaign at his final election meeting in Bettiah, where he also promised to be back again “for swearing in ceremony of a new NDA government”.

“I had started my campaign by visiting the birthplace of Bharat Ratna Karpoori Thakur, and today I am bringing it to a close at the land where Bapu Gandhi transformed into the Mahatma”, said Modi, in West Champaran district, recalling his first rally at Samastipur.

Modi, whom Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accompanied only at his inaugural rally in Samastipur, providing some cannon fodder to the opposition, showered encomiums on the JD(U) supremo for having put an end to “jungle raj”.

The PM, who has popularised “katta” as a metaphor for the RJD’s alleged high-handedness, charged the main opposition party with having pointed a country-made, unlicensed pistol at the head of the Congress when the ally was refusing to back Tejashwi Yadav as the Chief Ministerial candidate.

Asserting that the people of Bihar “do not want a katta sarkaar”, Modi voiced alarm over the RJD’s poll campaign, in which children came on stage declaring that they wished to become “rangdaar” (street bullies), armed with unlicensed pistols and double barrel guns (dunaali)”.

“People are not voting for jungle raj wallahs because they know if these people come to power they will hold a katta at the head of the public with the order to hold hands up. People of Bihar do not want hands up but start ups, which only the NDA can facilitate,” he said.

Although the Prime Minister refrained from mentioning leaders of the RJD and the Congress by names, he made ample references to “royal families” running these, “one most corrupt in the country” and the other “most corrupt in Bihar”.

The PM, whose penultimate rally was at Sitamarhi, the birthplace of goddess Sita, also deftly used the Hindutva card to question the INDIA bloc’s pro-deprived caste stance.

He alleged that reluctance of INDIA bloc leaders to visit Ayodhya, which housed not just the Ram temple but also shrines dedicated to Maharshi Valmiki, Mata Shabri and Nishad Raj was on account of their “hatred for Dalits and backwards”.

The Opposition coalition was also repeatedly charged by the PM with “protecting infiltrators”, driving whom out was, according to the government at the Centre, the aim of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls that was completed in the state days before polls were announced.

Modi’s speeches during the campaign also had references to the abrogation of Article 370 and Operation Sindoor, and the Opposition was charged with “capitulation before religious extremists” for not supporting the government on Triple Talaq and Waqf laws.

He also touched upon the problem of migration, which has been made a major poll issue by Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor.

The PM promised that in its next innings in power, the NDA will ensure “sons of Bihar get employed on the home soil and make their motherland proud”. Modi wound up his speeches by making the crowds chant “Vande Mataram”, reminding them that 150 years of the national song were being

celebrated.