BJP will dislodge Mahagathbandhan from power in Bihar in next polls: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the BJP will dislodge the Mahagathbandhan' from power in the next assembly polls in Bihar where the government was BAD, characterised by bhrashtachar' (corruption), arajakata'(anarchy) and daman' (oppression).

Shah coined the acronym at a public meeting in Hisua, falling under Nawada district and the eponymous Lok Sabha constituency, squarely blaming the Nitish Kumar government for the communal tension that forced him to cancel a scheduled visit to Sasaram, one of the riot-hit towns, earlier in the day.

Widely regarded as the BJP's principal strategist, Shah described his impression of the situation in Sasaram with a rhetorical flourish, claiming log maare jaa rahe hain' (people were being killed) and goliyan chal rahi hain' (guns were blazing).

The administration has so far maintained that riots in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif towns have led to no casualty.

The BJP has blamed the imposition of Section 144 CrPC in Sasaram for the cancellation of the trip there of Shah, who was to attend a function on the occasion of Emperor Asoka's birth anniversary.

However, the administration in Rohtas district, of which Sasaram is the headquarters, has claimed no prohibitory orders were clamped and show cause notices have been issued to police personnel who have been caught, on camera, telling people to stay indoors since Section 144 is in force.

I spoke to the Bihar Governor to take stock of the situation. Lalan Singh (president of JD(U)) is taking exception to that. He should remember I am the Home Minister of the country. If lawlessness prevails in Bihar, I cannot be a mute spectator. The state is a part of the country, fumed Shah.

Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi return to power in 2024 and help BJP form its own government in the assembly polls which would follow. All the rioters will be hung upside down ('ulta latka denge'), said the Home Minister.

In his speech that lasted for less than 30 minutes, the former BJP president deftly exposed the fault lines in the Mahagathbandhan', recalling the scorn heaped at Nitish Kumar by his current deputy Tejashwi Yadav when the RJD was in the opposition.

Shah also said Lalu Prasad, the RJD president and Tejashwi Yadav's father, was hoping that his son will become the Chief Minister but he does not know Nitish. He will not hand over power to Tejashwi once his Prime Ministerial ambitions get dashed with Narendra Modi's return to power.

Facing an uphill task in Bihar where the BJP was stripped of power last year and has to take on the seven-party ruling coalition, Shah nonetheless declared we will win all seats in the state which is home to 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Shah reiterated that Kumar, who ditched the BJP in August last year, will never be acceptable as an ally again.

The Home Minister also accused the former coalition partner of being in the same league as staunch opponents like RJD, Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress.

Congress, JD(U), RJD and Mamata, all used to oppose the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. But Modi ji laid the foundation stone one morning and now a temple, that seems to be reaching the skies, is coming up, said Shah who also rued the opposition to scrapping of Article 370, which helped complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah, who reached Bihar Saturday evening and held hectic parleys with BJP leaders at his hotel before leaving for Hisua, accused his opponents of politics of appeasement which had helped terrorism to flourish.

In an apparent riposte to Nitish Kumar's repeated complaint that the NDA never agreed to his demand for special status to Bihar, Shah asked the Chief Minister to spell out what the UPA (Congress-led alliance) which you have now entered did for the state.