Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi are both in Bihar today, rallying with supporters ahead of the crucial Bihar Assembly elections on November 6 and 11.
While Rahul Gandhi launched his campaign for Bihar elections from Muzaffarpur, Amit Shah raised his voice for NDA candidates from Darbhanga, Begusarai and Samastipur.
Here we take a look at the highlights of his speeches:
Rahul Gandhi
1. Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition on Wednesday claimed that the BJP is running the Bihar government “through remote control” while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is just a face.
2. Gandhi claimed that the BJP government at the Center is “against social justice”, and said the Narendra Modi government agreed to the caste census at the insistence of the Congress.
3. Gandhi alleged, “Two Indias are emerging. One is of the common people, and the other is of five or 10 billionaires. That is why places like Bihar are suffering from poverty, its huge potential is untapped,” as per PTI report.
4. The Congress leader also claimed, “You all must have seen the drama that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to do by announcing that he was going to take a dip in the Yamuna on the occasion of Chhath Puja. When it came to light that it was a water body created through piped water, Modi got nervous.”
5. Gandhi said why Modi claims to provide cheap data to Indians, he “hides the fact that a monopoly of a business house has been allowed in the telecom sector.” Rahul also said that Modi is silent on ‘the damage caused to the economy by demonetisation’.
6. Gandhi reiterated his allegations of vote theft in Maharashtra and Haryana elections and said, “They will try to do the same in Bihar.”
7. Gandhi also spoke on the rich cultural history of Bihar and said that people from the state are doing well in other countries like “Dubai, Mauritius, Seychelles and America”.
8. Criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi told the gathering, “You are able to understand political intricacies in a matter of seconds. I would urge you not to be influenced by Narendra Modi’s theatrics. If he thinks it will get you votes, he will be ready to dance on the stage.”
This last comment by the Congress leader has irked BJP members, with BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari calling the LS LoP a “local goon” for his comment.
He also alleged that Gandhi “made fun of the voters” as well as “insulted” the poor with his comments.
Let’s take a look at what Amit Shah said in his rally:
Amit Shah
1. Speaking in Darbhanga, Shah claimed that Lalu Prasad Yadav is trying to make his son the chief minister, while Sonia Gandhi is trying to make her son the prime minister, without knowing that none of these posts are vacant.
2. Shah questioned whether the arrested members of the banned organization Popular Front of India (PFI) would remain in jail if the Grand Alliance came to power.
3. The Home Minister accused RJD supremo Lalu Prasad of being involved in several scams including fodder, land-for-job and bitumen scams and termed the grand alliance as ‘thug bandhan’. He also alleged that Congress is involved in corruption cases 12 crores.
4. Shah, in Begusarai, referred to Rahul Gandhi’s Vote Adhikar Yatra in Bihar as a ‘save infiltrators yatra’.
5. He compared the NDA alliance in Bihar to the ‘Five Pandavas’ and said the upcoming elections would be a way to prevent the return of ‘Jungle Raj’ in the state.
6. Shah also claimed that India Bloc wants to snatch the ‘Jananayak’ title given to former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur. Shah said, “Modi ji gave Bharat Ratna to Jananayak Karpoori Thakur. Now, they (opposition) want to snatch this title from Karpoori ji. We will not let this happen. People have seen the real face of Congress, which had stopped Babu Jagjivan Ram from becoming the PM.” PTI,
7. Highlighting the construction of airport and AIIMS in the area, Shah said that Darbhanga will soon get metro rail.
8. The BJP leader talked about a temple dedicated to Goddess Sita being built in Mithila, and highlighted that all the places the goddess visited will be connected by a ‘Ram Circuit’.
