Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday declared that the present dispensation in Bihar would not last long.
He also took a dig at the Grand Alliance leaders over the sting operation involving JDU Pipra candidate Awadhesh Prasad Kushwaha.
At the Jehanabad rally, Modi said they (Lalu and Nitish) often talk about contributions of Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan but what they did on his birth anniversary on Sunday was shameful. “A minister of the Nitish-led cabinet was caught taking bribe. The misdeed of the former minister was uploaded on social media,” he said.
He asked the present dispensation to reveal names of the five ministers who were associated with the money scandal exposed during the sting operation. “No sting operation ever was conducted till the NDA ruled the state. Corruption has reached its peak after the split between the BJP and the JDU,” he added.
Modi, however, refrained from making any comment on the reservation issue despite repeated demands from a section of the crowd.
At the gathering in Kaimur, Modi was so pleased with the turnout that he said it was not a rally but a surge, which could not be stopped by any dispensation.
“Is sarkar ka jaana tai hai, janata ne vidayee karne ka faisla kar liya hai (the fall of the present government in Bihar is inevitable, the people of Bihar have decided to bid goodbye to it),” Modi told the crowd at the aerodrome ground.
Modi said the turnout at the rally was enough to fathom why the Kaimur administration had earlier denied permission for holding the rally at Bhabua, the district headquarters, around 200km southwest of Patna. “Now, I know why there was an attempt to stop me,” he said, describing the crowd as huge.
“Will you try to stop me? I am a labourer. I will walk it if needed,” he said, seeking the Election Commission’s intervention in Bhabua to ensure that fair elections are conducted in the second phase.
Modi said he had to face a similar situation in neighbouring Varanasi when he was contesting the Lok Sabha elections last year. “The local authorities had denied permission to conduct election rallies despite the fact that I was contesting polls from there,” he said.
Kaimur district magistrate Devesh Sehra had earlier denied permission for holding the election rally on security grounds. Residents said over 200 inhabitants staying in the neighbourhood of the airdrome ground were asked to vacate their buildings because of security arrangements. “We were asked to vacate our houses for 24 hours (till the rally was over). We had no option but to abide by the order of the administration,” a visibly upset Rameshwar Singh said.
Singh had shifted his family to his friend’s house at Patel Nagar, about 2km from the venue of the rally. Over a dozen people, who were not happy over the administration’s move, made similar complaints. About 40,000 people from far-off places falling under Shahabad region had come to see Modi, who arrived around 15 minutes behind schedule.
Kuer Singh (70), a resident of Mohania in Kaimur, said: “Ye logo ka Modi ke liye junoon hai (this is the people’s madness towards Modi). I have come to listen to him after covering 7-8km on foot as the administration did not allow any vehicle to enter the town,” the retired police officer said.
Mangal Sah of Kudra echoed a similar sentiment. “We see him (Modi) on TV everyday. But we got a chance to see him from close for the first time,” he said, adding that the turnout at the rally was spontaneous.
Some, however, differed.
Mahendra Singh Kushwaha, a resident of Chainpur in Kaimur, said: “Around 25-30 per cent of the people turned up to see Modi. It doesn’t mean they would vote for NDA.”
