Narendra Modi on Tuesday chose Saharsa in the heart of the Kosi region to launch a frontal attack on chief minister Nitish Kumar, who rebutted the Prime Minister's claims point by point.
" Jab raajneta ka ahankar satvein aasman par pahunch jata hai, uska janta ke dukh-dard ke prati samvedna mar jaati hai (When a political leader's arrogance reaches its apogee, his sensitivity towards sufferings of the people dies)," Modi said, addressing the BJP's Parivartan rally at Saharsa.
The Prime Minister, the star campaigner of his party-led NDA, was believed to have chosen Saharsa to launch the most scathing attack on his chief rival Nitish for two reasons. First, Saharsa was the nerve centre of the 2008 deluge, for which Gujarat had donated Rs 5 crore. Nitish had "snubbed" Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, by returning the amount in 2010. "Modi found Saharsa appropriate to vent his ire on Nitish," a BJP insider said.
Second, the BJP is relatively weak in the entire Kosi-Seemanchal region. The party had lost in all the six Lok Sabha seats - Madhepura, Supaul, Purnea, Kishanganj, Katihar and Araria - in the region to its rivals against its stupendous performance in the state in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. "Modi wanted to rejuvenate the party displaying his aggression in its weak zone," the insider said.
Modi recalled how the people of Gujarat and Biharis settled in Gujarat had collected Rs 5 crore to help out the flood victims of the Kosi region and how Nitish had disdainfully returned that amount. "Such arrogant leaders should never be let off," Modi told people passionately.
Around 275km away, Nitish launched a counter-attack on Modi in Patna. "We had returned the amount in June 2010. Why did the BJP contest the 2010 Assembly elections in alliance with the JDU in November 2010 if it was so hurt?" Nitish asked, asserting that he had returned the money because he was hurt by an advertisement boasting that Modi had played a big role in rescuing Bihar's flood victims.
"Many other states had helped us in a far better manner. But they had not boasted like him," said Nitish.
To step up his campaign against Nitish, Modi invoked Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) in Saharsa. "JP was the pride of Bihar and whole of India. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had put him behind the bars. JP came out of jail in ailing condition and died subsequently. But they (read Nitish and Lalu Prasad) have struck alliance with the party that incarcerated JP. JP's soul would have been shaken to see them (Lalu and Nitish) striking alliance with the party which played a role in his death," Modi said.
Nitish countered it saying: "He (Modi) holds the high office of the Prime Minister. He should not indulge in loose talk about JP, who was an institution. I am not aware how much knowledge he (Modi) has about JP. I suggest him (Modi) not to drop JP's name anywhere and everywhere after 40 years. JP's name should not be used for deriving petty political mileage."
Modi dwelt in detail how the central government had swung into action when water had begun accumulating at Sindhupalchak (Nepal) because of a landslide in 2014.
"I sent in the army to control the situation. Had our jawans not worked a catastrophe - a hundred times bigger than that of 2008 - would have once again destroyed the Kosi region in 2014. Our alertness saved the situation," he said.
Countering Modi's claim, Nitish said: "He (the Prime Minister) has magnified what was a small issue. The water had started accumulating 260km away from the Kosi region in Nepal. The experts created selective holes in wreckage of landslide, allowing the water to flow and ease the situation. But he (Modi) has a tendency to make mountain out of molehill."
Claiming that the jungle raj (lawlessness) was knocking on Bihar's doors once again, Modi quoted the crime branch's figures and said: "In January 2015, as many as 13,808 cases of grave crime were reported. In the next six months, the figure went up to 18,500. In January, there were 217 murders. The figure went up by 46 per cent in the next six months."
Nitish said it was thoroughly "inappropriate" for the Prime Minister to quote figures of a few months to prove his point. "If he is really interested in depicting the true law and order situation of the state, he should gather the figure of my whole tenure to make a statement."
