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At his fourth and last Parivartan rally on Tuesday in poll-bound Bihar, prime minister Narendra Modi attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar.
The three leaders had on Sunday attacked the Modi government and targeted the prime minister for playing a "cruel joke" on Bihar. Two days later, at a rally in Bhagalpur, Modi said, "Such big leaders came at Patna and they could only chant Modi, Modi, Modi. This I thought could happen only at National Democratic Alliance rallies and my trips abroad." He said the people of Bihar and those in the rest of the country were disappointed the rival alliance "uttered not a word on the plans it had for Bihar's development".
Blaming Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar for the lack of development in Bihar, the prime minister attacked the alliance. "This is an election for the Bihar legislative Assembly. Instead of asking an account of my government's achievements, they should present their account of misrule for 25 years. I will present my record in 2019, but what about theirs? They promised electricity, are you getting that? They promised jobs, did you get any?" Modi asked the gathering.
He said he had changed the election debate from caste formations to development agenda. He said after 25 years of caste-based politics, this time the people of Bihar would vote for development.
Modi, who had earlier announced an Rs 1.25-lakh-crore special package for the state, referred to Nitish Kumar's poll promises of Rs 2.7 lakh crore, and claimed Nitish was forced to do so after he made development a major poll plank.
"At first, they ridiculed my package, but realised in two-three days that people have seen through their game. So they were forced to announce their own development package. I am very happy that development has become a poll issue in Bihar," he said.
He rubbished Nitish Kumar's sops and accused him of "cheating" the people as the money would come from the Centre. "There is a finance commission that decides how much money the states will get from centre. It has said that Bihar will get Rs 3.76 lakh crore in five years. This means you will get only Rs 2.70 lakh crore out of the government's money. We should ask where Rs 1.06 lakh crore will go. Will it go into fodder?" Modi said, taking a jibe at Lalu Prasad, who has been convicted in a fodder scam case and barred from contesting elections.
Attacking Kumar for not delivering on his promises and sacrificing his anti-Congress ideology, Modi said, "The so-called socialist leaders of grand alliance joined hands with the Congress, sacrificing the memories of Ram Manohar Lohia, Jay Prakash Narayan and Kapoori Thakur. It was not Swabhiman Rally, it was Tilanjali Rally."
