Elect NDA in all 40 seats: Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas

PATNA: CM Nitish Kumar and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday appealed to the people of the state to elect NDA candidates on all the 40 parliamentary seats.

Addressing the Sankalp Rally organized jointly by JD(U), BJP and LJP, Nitish presented a long narrative of developmental initiatives taken by his government in the state while lauding PM Narendra Modi for efficient tackling of the problem of terrorism after the Pulwama attack. He also welcomed the return of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman from the hold of Pakistani establishment.

“No compromise should be made with terrorism. The government will take on terrorists everywhere in the country till terrorism is removed. I believe the central government will do it,” Nitish said, adding the government of PM Modi has taken action against the terrorist elements as well against those who promote terrorism.

He coupled the Centre’s fight against terror elements with developmental activities conducted by both the central and state governments for the people of the state, as a result of which Bihar achieved the fastest growth rate of 11.3% among all the states in the country. Nitish appealed to people to “keep their enthusiasm for the NDA partners intact and elect all the 40 NDA candidates to Lok Sabha”. He also reiterated that he had rejoined the NDA “for state’s progress and development”.

Similarly, Paswan picked up idioms from the Centre’s war on terror that ended in “non-military” air strikes at the JeM terror camps at Balakot in Pakistan. “We need the Buddha, but we also need to conduct ‘yudh’ (war), if required. We have won the battle of bullets, and now we will also have to win the electoral war through ballot papers. Your (PM Modi) chest has become 156 inches wide. We must win all the 40 seats,” he said.

Nitish assured PM Modi on the mass sanitation drive, saying Bihar would achieve the target of providing toilets to every household by October 2 this year. “For this, we are spending money from state’s own resources under the Mukhya Mantri Lohia Yojana,” he said, adding special attention was being also given to developing the state’s infrastructure like in the road and power sectors.

Making a veiled attack on RJD, Nitish recalled the “seven sins” enumerated by Mahatma Gandhi, including “public life without principle” and appealed to people to remain alert against “nefarious elements who try to vitiate the atmosphere of love and social harmony”.

While Paswan did not mention Mahagathbandhan partners, Nitish reiterated his typical oblique reference to RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his scion cum leader of opposition in the state assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, saying there are some who believe “not in sewa, but only in mewa (not public service but making personal wealth)”.