Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said in the next Lok Sabha polls, people will choose between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, whom the Congress ”has tried to launch unsuccessfully 20 times.” Addressing a rally in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district, he criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a former BJP ally, for joining hands with “corrupt” RJD. He also accused Kumar of “hoodwinking” RJD president Lalu Prasad. “In 2024, people of Bihar will have to make a choice between Narendra Modi and Rahul, whom the Congress has tried to launch 20 times, without success,” said Shah. Referring to the meeting of opposition leaders in Patna last week, Shah said, “It is true that more than 20 parties agreed to come together. But it must also be noted that these parties are together responsible for scams worth over Rs 20 lakh crore”. Taking potshots at JD(U) chief Kumar, who had hosted the meeting, Shah said, “Such a person who keeps switching sides cannot be entrusted with running Bihar.” “Kumar has been harbouring Prime Ministerial ambitions. But the fact is he is not going to become the prime minister. He is only hoodwinking (murkh bana rahe hain) Lalu ji,” Shah said. The allusion was to Kumar and Prasad joining hands and the promise made by the former that the latter’s son Tejashwi Yadav, currently the deputy CM, will “lead” the charge when the state faces the next assembly polls. In his speech that lasted for about 25 minutes, Shah showered praises on Modi, recalling the “honour” the latter received on his recent visits abroad where “at one place his autograph was sought and at another his feet was touched”. “It is not the BJP, but the people of India, including Bihar, who are the indirect recipients of the honour,” said the home minister. He also mentioned the surgical strikes that took place after Uri army base camp attack and the Balakot airstrikes that followed Pulwama terror strike, claiming that it was in stark contrast to the response of the government headed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh whom Shah mocked by calling “Mauni baba (a muted old man).” The former BJP president also spoke of the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya and abrogation of Article 370. “All these parties, Congress, JD(U), RJD and TMC, used to say blood will spill on the streets if we touch Article 370. Not a single pebble was hurled anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir,” said Shah, recalling the government’s move of August, 2019. The BJP leader also appeared miffed at repeated charge of Kumar that the current ruling dispensation had accomplished nothing and was obsessed with “prachar-prasar” (propaganda). “Kumar should have some respect (lihaaz) for those with whom he had allied for so long,” said Shah, reeling out figures and statistics to underscore the Centre’s contribution towards growth of Bihar, with a special mention of projects like the Patna Metro and the proposed AIIMS at Darbhanga. The BJP leader thanked the people of Bihar for generously voting for the party and its allies in the last couple of Lok Sabha polls and expressed hope that in the next elections, the NDA would be rewarded with “all 40 seats” in the state. Several senior BJP leaders including Union ministers Giriraj Singh, Nityanand Rai and Ashwini Choubey, besides former deputy CM and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi and state unit president Samrat Choudhary also addressed the rally.
