Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the RJD of usurping land of the poor before giving them jobs during its regime, referring to the infamous and his family members have been named as accused.
Greeting the gathering in Motihari in Bhojpuri during his sixth visit to poll-bound Bihar this year, the Prime Minister focused on the development plank while targeting the RJD and the Congress for “looting the poor”.
The Prime Minister also dedicated multiple development projects worth over Rs 7,200 crore to the state and flagged off four new Amrit Bharat Express trains.
Coining a new slogan, ‘Banayenge naya Bihar, phir ekbaar NDA sarkar’, PM Modi said, “The RJD can’t think of providing employment to youths. It usurped the land of poor people before giving them jobs.”
The case pertains to appointments in the Railways during Lalu Prasad’s tenure as Railways minister. The CBI has alleged that the appointments were allegedly made in return for land parcels.
Asserting that Bihar was developing fast due to the “double-engine government”, the Prime Minister claimed the state received a paltry Rs 2 lakh crore during the 10 years of UPA.
“It was as if they were punishing Nitish Kumar’s government. After coming to power at the Centre, I ended that old politics of revenge against Bihar,” he said.
“In the past 10 years of NDA, the funds provided for Bihar’s development are many times greater than before,” PM Modi stressed.
Further in his address, PM Modi said it was important for today’s generation to know the state of despair Bihar faced two decades ago.
“It is important for today’s generation to know the state of despair Bihar was in two decades ago. Under the rule of the RJD and Congress, development was stalled, and money meant for the poor never reached them. Those in power only thought about how to loot the rights of the poor,” he said.
Calling Bihar “a land of brave people who turn the impossible into possible”, PM Modi said, “You freed this land from the shackles of RJD and Congress and made the impossible possible. As a result, today, welfare schemes are directly reaching the poor in Bihar”.
Sharing data from welfare schemes, the Prime Minister highlighted his government’s push for women’s financial empowerment in Bihar.
“Over 3.5 crore women got bank accounts in Bihar. In the last one-and-a-half years, over 24,000 self-help groups have been helped in Bihar with Rs 1,000 crore. Till now, over 20 Lakhpati Didis are there in Bihar,” he said.