Will nabbed PFI operatives remain behind bars if RJD-Cong combine comes to power in Bihar, asks Shah

Darbhanga (Bihar): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday questioned whether the members of radical outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), who were arrested after the Centre banned the organisation, would remain behind bars if the Congress-RJD combine came to power in Bihar. Addressing a public rally here, Shah said PFI operatives were active in Patna's Phulwari Sharif. "It is the NDA government that banned the organisation. Searches were conducted across the country and PFI operatives were put behind bars. Do you think that the PFI members will remain in prison if the RJD-Congress combine comes to power in Bihar?" he questioned. Slamming the INDIA bloc leaders, Shah said the BJP has given tickets to many youngsters but the RJD and Congress have not, as RJD supremo Lalu Prasad wants to make his son Tejashwi the chief minister of Bihar and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi wants her son Rahul to be the PM.

Shah termed the Mahagathbandhan as 'thug bandhan', alleging that Lalu Prasad is involved in fodder, bitumen and land-for-jobs scams, while Congress was involved in corruption cases worth Rs 12 lakh crore. Shah said that the NDA government gives free ration to 8.52 crore people of Bihar, constituted Makhana Board, and provides 125 units of free power to domestic consumers. "Darbhanga will get a metro rail soon... an airport has already been constructed and an AIIMS is being built," he said. The BJP leader said that a temple of Goddess Sita is being constructed in Mithila and all places she visited will be connected to the Ram circuit. "NDA government gave the official status to Maithili, and the Constitution has been translated into the language," he said, adding a Rs 500-crore center is being constructed in the region for conserving the manuscripts.