Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch his party’s Bihar poll campaign from Samastipur on Friday, the birthplace of socialist icon and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna last year by the NDA government.
While addressing the ‘Mera Booth Sabse Mazboot: Yuva Samvaad’ event through audio-conferencing in New Delhi, the PM targeted the RJD-Congress tie-up on a day Tejashwi Yadav was declared the Mahagathbandhan’s chief ministerial candidate, and asked booth-level workers in Bihar to remind people about the atrocities during “jungle raj” under RJD and highlight the development initiatives and welfare schemes of the NDA government at the Centre and state.
“This is an election to write a new chapter of Bihar’s prosperity. The youth of Bihar have a very significant role,” he said. “Today, the mahayagya of development is underway in the country… In Bihar, work is happening in every sector, in every direction…The biggest reason for this is there is a stable government in both the country and Bihar.”
He also asked workers to organise meetings with those who have seen the “dark days of jungle raj” under RJD and described the Mahagathbandhan as a “lathbandhan” (a coalition of criminals) and not “gathbandhan” as all its leaders from Delhi and Bihar are out on bail.
“I ask the youth of Bihar to gather all young people at every booth and have the elderly people of that area come and tell them about the old days…” he said.
“For the lathbandhan people, their own self-interest is the biggest thing. They don’t care about the youths… with the help of Maoist terrorism, they kept winning elections too…The NDA has worked to bring Bihar out of the darkness of jungle raj and into the new light of development,” he said.
“Nitish (Kumar) ji and the NDA have worked very hard to bring Bihar out of darkness. Today, there is rule of people’s trust in Bihar…” he said.
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In Bihar, he said it is about progress not migration anymore. “From new roads to expressways, new bridges over the Ganga to modern railway stations, and from metro to airports, new possibilities are emerging in every direction, creating employment for youths,” he said.
During his campaigning on Friday, Modi will be accompanied by CM Nitish Kumar, who will address another rally the same day. Modi will launch a campaign blitz with rallies on October 30 and November 2 and 3, before the first phase of voting on November 6 for 121 seats. A new factor in the poll-bound state is the emergence of Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party.
BJP state chief Dilip Jaiswal said Modi will launch the poll campaign from Samastipur and Begusarai Friday, while rallies in Muzaffarpur and Chhapra are scheduled on October 30.
The PM’s choice to begin with Samastipur is significant since BJP has long been attempting to co-opt his socialist legacy. Thakur’s paternal village, Karpoori Gram, is barely a few kilometres from the venue in Samastipur town.
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Karpoori Thakur’s granddaughter Jagriti Thakur, a dentist, is contesting on a Jan Suraaj Party ticket from Morwa seat in Samastipur.
Meanwhile, JD(U) has planned 80 meetings featuring Nitish, who launched his and his party’s campaign last week from Samastipur, and addressed public meetings in Muzaffarpur.
