'NDA to win all 40 Bihar seats': PM Modi campaigns for Chirag Paswan

'I am glad that my little brother Chirag has stepped into the shoes of my friend late Ram Vilas Paswan,' said PM Modi in Bihar's Jamui

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign from Jamui on Thursday, where he was also campaigning for Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) President Chirag Paswan, a recent addition to the alliance.

During his address at a public rally in Jamui, PM Modi expressed confidence in the people of Bihar, stating that they have committed to helping the NDA secure all 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar and over 400 seats nationwide.

"It seems the people of Bihar have decided to help the NDA win all 40 seats in the state, and achieve the 400-plus target in the country," he said.

He also praised Chirag Paswan, stating, “I am glad that my little brother Chirag has stepped into the shoes of my friend late Ram Vilas Paswan."

The ruling NDA in Bihar displayed a show of unity on Thursday as leaders from all constituents of the BJP-led coalition attended PM Modi's rally.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who leads the JD(U) and has been relatively inactive recently, braved the scorching heat to share the stage with the prime minister.

LJP (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan expressed gratitude to PM Modi for selecting the constituency where his party is contesting for the rally in the state.

Also in attendance were Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from the BJP, as well as former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha, who heads the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).

PM Modi slams Opposition parties in Jamui

PM Modi also hit out at the Congress for bringing “disrepute” to the country while lauding Nitish Kumar for maintaining an “unblemished record”.

He avoided directly naming Pakistan but asserted that under the BJP-led NDA government, India has started retaliatory actions, thereby revitalising the ancient glory of the Magadha empire.

Additionally, the Prime Minister indirectly addressed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has formed an alliance with the Congress in Delhi.

“All these people who used to accuse each other of corruption have now come together to hurl abuses at Modi,” the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister further claimed that when the Congress was in power, “terrorists from small countries struggling for wheat supplies could strike at will.”

He also mentioned the “land for jobs scam” in which RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav is named as an accused. “Our ally Nitish Babu [Bihar CM] was also the railway minister. What an unblemished record he had,” Modi said.

Modi, addressing his first public meeting in Bihar since the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections, also charged the RJD-Congress combine with “heaping scorn on the Ram temple at Ayodhya” and “opposing the election of a tribal woman [Droupadi Murmu] as the President of the country”.