Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a fervent appeal for people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to transform the fate of Bihar, saying India could not prosper without Bihar.
“I assure I will always be ready in your service and stand by Bihar,” Modi said, kicking off the formal election campaign in Banka, a south-eastern Bihar district bordering Jharkhand state. Banka goes to poll in the first phase on October 12.
Saying the life of the people undergoes a complete change with the arrival of a workaholic government, Modi called on people in the state to vote for development this time, since they had tried everything else.
“Bihar has seen feudalism, capitalism, separatism, nepotism, fascism and dynasticism. For once, I now urge to vote for development which is the panacea of all ills,” he said adding Bihar had a huge potential for growth.
He said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre had opened its exchequer to ensure Bihar grows properly. He said Bihar would celebrate two Diwalis (festivals of light) this year — one on vote-counting day and the other on the actual Diwali, which falls soon after on November 8.
“I have already announced a special development package of Rs1.25 trillion [Dh84 billion] for Bihar yet the government was not doing any favour to this state — this is its right. Bihar is being given what was, as such, ignored by the previous governments”, he said.
Modi exhorted the “trigger-happy” Maoists to renounce the path of violence and return to the social mainstream, saying violence was no solution to any problems. He asked them to rather believe in ballots, not bullets.
“Those who believe in bullets must know that they [bullets] give birth to only to destruction whereas ballots give birth to development. So, please believe in ballots which are a guarantee to development,” he asked.
He criticised Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for reneging from his promise of bringing power to every home and accused him of ditching the masses.
“He ditched you by not giving power as promised but my government will provide 24 hours supply of power round the year — all 365 days,” he announced.
He also slammed Kumar for questioning his special development package and asked the audience if the present government deserved the money.
“This arrogant man had returned the money the people of Gujarat had sent for the victims of Kosi disaster in a state of anger. My worry right now is if he will do the same with the special package money,” he wondered and said the present government just could not be relied upon.
He said his government believed in the welfare of the poor and promised to give homes to them positively by 2022. He alleged no previous government was sensitive towards the poor class as the BJP government has been.
