Patna, July 21: The state Congress would use local musical bands to spread the word against alleged failure of the Narendra Modi government to fulfil promises made to people of the country.
Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Ashok Choudhary told The Telegraph today the party would begin its campaign from Friday and employ, among others, local band parties to highlight the "misdeeds" of the NDA government.
"Our party will have everything needed for its campaign - from vans (raths) to tongas (horse carts) and more. We have arranged for musical bands that would move across various districts to expose the Modi government's misdeeds and lies," he said.
Choudhary, who today floated the slogan of "420 din ki Modi sarkar, savdhan Bihar (420 days of Modi government, beware Bihar)," said the Congress would also roll out vans, which will be called raths, at places where there is road connectivity, for campaign.
The term "420" is generally reserved for cheats and comes from Section 420 of IPC, which deals with cheating and related acts.
The Congress is contesting the polls in alliance with the JDU and the RJD. On the contentious seat-sharing issue, the Congress president said: "We hope to finalise it by second week of August."
He further said: "Once it happens and the candidates are finalised, our campaign will intensify. The raths will head for the constituencies from where we would contest. Tongas will take the campaign to areas where there are no proper roads. At all constituencies where Congress candidates are in the fray, band parties will play songs highlighting the unfulfilled promises of the NDA, besides urging the people to vote for the Congress and its alliance partners. A detailed election campaign is presently being chalked out."
Party sources said they were hopeful the alliance partners would provide the Congress at least 50 seats. The total number of Assembly seats in Bihar is 243.
Choudhary also accused the Modi government of hijacking plans started by the UPA government. "Most plans which this government is boasting of were started by the UPA. A few examples are the Jammu train tunnel, the success of Mangal Yaan etc. It was the UPA that announced setting up of an IIT in Bihar, which will now be inaugurated by Modi on July 25. Today is the 420th day of the Modi regime and the people of Bihar should be cautious and careful. We have held a series of marches spanning 350km around Bihar and the same will end in the form of a big protest programme at Kargil Chowk on July 24. Senior leader Jairam Ramesh will attend the same. We will give a demonstration of our band party programme there," he said.
The Congress would not be alone when campaigning on the tonga. RJD chief Lalu Prasad had on Friday said he would flag off 1,000 tongas from Gandhi Maidan to take on the BJP. "The BJP is a rich party but we are not going to be bogged down by its financial might. Our time-tested tongas are enough to defeat the BJP's evil designs," he had said.
