NDA in Bihar has met people's needs, it will meet their aspirations: PM Modi

Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday dismissed suggestions of anti-incumbency against the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar,asserting that the NDA had spent the last decade meeting thepeoples “needs” and was now focused on taking care of their”aspirations.

Addressing a rally in this north Bihar town of Arariadistrict, Modi also asserted that trends of the first phase ofassembly elections, and the second that was under way,suggested that voters of the state had rejected “doubleyuvraaj”, an expression he has coined for Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and RJDs Tejashwi Yadav.

“In Bihar, rangbaazi (rowdyism) and rangdaari(extortion) are losing and vikas (development) and kanoon kaaraaj (rule of law) is winning, parivarvaad (dynasty rule) isbeing defeated by janatantra (democracy),” he asserted.

Recalling the states notoriety for booth capturing inthe 1990s, the prime minister said “They (NDAs predecessorsin government) had deprived the poor of even their right tovote. It is the NDA which empowered the downtrodden in thestate again.” Had such a situation continued till date, this son ofa poor mother could never have become the prime minister, saidModi, in a bid to strike an emotional chord with the peopleof the backward region.

In the backdrop of young voters much talked aboutdissatisfaction with what has been achieved by the governmentin the last 15 years, Modi said, “The last decade was spent infulfilling avashyaktaaein (needs). The current one shall bedevoted to meeting the aspirations (aakankshaaein)”.

“We succeeded in bringing gas cylinders to everyhousehold. Now we shall be graduating to gas pipelines. In thedecade that went by, we built roads, now we are buildingairports and giving a facelift to the existing ones,” he said.

Training his guns at the Congress, Modi accused theopposition party of having always made false promises ofpoverty eradication, farm loan waiver and one rank-one pensionfor retired servicemen.

“This is the reason why the party is now left withless than 100 MPs in both Houses of Parliament combined. Instates like UP and Bihar they have been relegated to thethird, fourth of fifth position and are piggybacking otherparties for survival,” he added.

The prime minister also expressed delight over theimpressive voter turnout in the first phase of elections andthe second phase so far despite the corona scare, saying “Itis an occasion for the world, all the think tanks across theworld, to take note and understand the deep roots of democracyin India”.

He also lavished praise on the Election Commission andpoll officials for conducting the mammoth exercise amid thecrisis.

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