On the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Purnia in poll-bound Bihar, where he inaugurated a new airport and a series of development initiatives worth over Rs 36,000 crore, the Opposition Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) targeted the ruling NDA, accusing it of failures in employment generation, healthcare, education, and infrastructure in the Seemanchal region.
A series of politically charged posters that said “Hawai chappal, hawai jahaz, hawai jumle” were installed across Purnia by the Congress, party spokesperson Gyan Ranjan Gupta said.
The posters, featuring a picture of a laughing Modi, also said, “Purnviram Purnia! Ab special jumle nahi (Full stop Purnia! Now, no more special empty promises)”.
“Where are the jobs, the universities, AIIMS? People in Hawai chappals were promised flights, but even middle-class people can’t afford tickets under the NDA government’s rule,” said Congress spokesperson Gupta. “Bihar today demands its rightful share — the right to education, healthcare, employment, and dignity, all within the state.”
Gupta said the Congress’s ongoing campaign, Ghar Ghar Adhikar Yatra, is receiving support across Bihar. He outlined key welfare proposals, including Rs 2 lakh capital support for women-led businesses, Rs 2,500 monthly assistance under the Mai-Bahan Yojana, Rs 25 lakh for healthcare needs, free land for the landless, tablet computers for students from classes 8 to 12, monthly pensions for senior citizens and widows, and 200 units of free electricity.
“People are seeing through the empty slogans,” Gupta said, adding, “This time, Bihar will vote for rights, not rhetoric.”
Tejashwi Yadav’s late-night inspection
Meanwhile, Bihar Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav, of the RJD, conducted an unscheduled inspection of the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Purnia on the night of September 13. In a post on social media, he described the hospital’s condition as a “snapshot of NDA’s 20-year-long neglect of public healthcare”.
Story continues below this ad
Yadav alleged that the hospital, designated as a medical college, has no functioning ICU, no cardiology department, and an inactive trauma centre. He also alleged that three patients were being accommodated on single beds and that basic sanitation was severely lacking.
“Nurses are working at one-fifth sanctioned strength, 80% of doctor posts are vacant, and interns have not been paid for six months,” Yadav claimed.
Taking aim at the Prime Minister, he said, “Will the PM visit this medical college during his Purnia tour? Or will he, once again, turn a blind eye to the failures of his 20-year-old NDA government in Bihar and 11 years of governance at the Centre?”
“Before indulging in rhetoric, he must account for the collapse of public health, rising unemployment, and endemic corruption in his so-called double-engine government,” Yadav said.
