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The Bihar election campaign saw sharp exchanges on Saturday as INDIA bloc’s chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav and Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed separate rallies in Khagaria district.
Addressing an election rally in Gogri, Yadav said that if the INDIA bloc is voted to power in Bihar, a law will be enacted within 20 days to provide government jobs to every family, and the recruitment process will be completed in 20 months.
He said he was contesting the elections not merely to form a government but to build the state and ensure that Bihar becomes a leader among Indian states.
“We need to make Bihar number one, for which there is a need to bring investment, promote education and ensure proper health facilities,” Yadav said, drawing cheers from the crowd.
He also reiterated that the INDIA bloc’s focus was on creating employment opportunities, boosting public infrastructure, and restoring people’s faith in governance through transparency and accountability.
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Meanwhile, in another public meeting in Khagaria, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched a sharp attack on the INDIA bloc, accusing it of opposing the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. Shah asserted that the government would ensure that “every infiltrator would be detected and deported to their countries.”
“Let Rahul Gandhi launch yatras to protect these infiltrators. It does not matter. He cannot protect infiltrators by taking out 'Ghuspetiya Bachao Yatra'. Every infiltrator would be detected, deleted (from the voters' list) and deported to their countries," Shah said.
He claimed that the assembly election in Bihar will determine whether the state remains on the path of development or returns to the “jungle raj” of the past. Shah alleged that Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad focused only on his family’s prosperity, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were working for the overall development of Bihar.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and CM Nitish Kumar ji want overall development of Bihar, but Lalu Prasad wants ‘vikas’ (prosperity) of his family only. People don't want the return of 'jungle raj' in the state," Shah claimed.
Highlighting the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA's) record on law and order, Shah said there had been a substantial decrease in heinous crimes in Bihar during the alliance’s rule. “Under the RJD rule, murders, dacoity and other crimes were normal in Bihar,” he alleged, adding that the NDA government had brought stability, investment, and infrastructure growth to the state.
Both leaders are scheduled to hold multiple rallies in the coming days as campaigning intensifies across Bihar, with development, employment, and law and order emerging as the key themes of this election season.
(With inputs from PTI)

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