INDIA bloc to be routed as Rahul insulted Chhathi Maiyya, Cong workers abused PM's mother: Shah

Nalanda/Lakhisarai/Munger (Bihar), Oct 30 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the INDIA bloc will be "wiped out" in Bihar polls as people will "take revenge" for Congress workers allegedly insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother and Rahul Gandhi "deriding" the PM and 'Chhathi Maiyya'.

Addressing back-to-back rallies in Nalanda, Lakhisarai and Munger districts, he charged Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, with having insulted 'Chhathi Maiyya' by claiming Modi, and others who worshipped the goddess were doing "drama".

In a jibe at former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he called upon people to press on EVM buttons having NDA symbols with "such rage that the tremors are felt in Italy".

"Sita Mata had worshipped 'Chhati Mata' in Munger... Rahul Gandhi insulted the goddess as he is ignorant of India's culture since Italy is his maternal home," Shah said.

The former BJP president lambasted the Congress and its allies for "thwarting for 70 years" the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya for which "a struggle had been on for five centuries, since the times of the Mughals".

He also lauded the Modi government for developing a modern university in Nalanda, which "no marauder like Bakhtiyar Khilji will be able to destroy".

He also pointed out that work was on for giving a facelift to Punaura Dham, the shrine situated at the birthplace of goddess Sita in Sitamarhi district of Bihar, and said that "in two years from now, you will see PM Modi performing the consecration ceremony".

Shah began his rally in Nalanda by invoking the memories of Chanakya and Chandragupta, the master-disciple duo who lived in the region and are credited with having established the Maurya kingdom, arguably the most powerful empire in ancient India.

The Union minister claimed that Bihar witnessed 'jungle raj' during the chief ministership of Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, while asserting that every vote to NDA will bring development to the state.

"Bihar witnessed over 32,000 kidnappings and 12 major massacres during the Lalu-Rabri regime from 1992-2004... Nitish Kumar ended the 'jungle raj'... but RJD is trying to bring back 'jungle raj' in the state with a new face," he alleged.

Shah also highlighted the contrast between 20 years of Nitish Kumar's rule, which witnessed "not a single massacre", unlike the period when RJD was in power and Naxal-infested areas saw "38 carnages".

The home minister claimed that ever since JD(U) president Nitish Kumar formed an NDA government in the state, "there has been a 20 per cent drop in murders while dacoities and kidnappings have gone down by 80 per cent".

"We are preparing the youth of Bihar to win medals in the 2036 Olympics that will happen in India," he claimed.

Shah alleged that the UPA government indulged in scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore during 10 years of rule, whereas nobody could point fingers at Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for corruption.

"Lalu Prasad was involved in fodder, land-for-jobs, bitumen and flood relief scams... whereas Bihar moved on the path of development under the Nitish Kumar regime and the Centre hiked MSP for agricultural produce and bolstered infrastructure," he said.

He claimed that terrorists unleashed mayhem in India during the UPA regime without any consequences, while the Modi regime repaid every attack with strikes inside Pakistan.

"We will also drive out infiltrators from Bihar who usurp poor people's foodgrains, employment and indulge in anti-national activities," he said.

Shah announced that a medical college will be set up in Lakhisarai over the next two years in the name of Bihar's first chief minister Shri Krishna Sinha.

Hailing Goddess Sita as "daughter of Bihar", he said that a grand temple will be built at Punaura Dham in Sitamarhi at a cost of Rs 850 crore and it will be connected to Ram Temple at Ayodhya through a direct train.

Under the NDA rule, the Centre has spent Rs 18 lakh crore on road, railways, greenfield expressway projects in Bihar, while a Makhana Board has also been established, he said.

He said that the Centre has spent Rs 9,500 crore on reviving Barauni fertiliser plant, Rs 900 crore on infrastructural projects in Munger and gave the GI tag to Katrani rice from the region.

Shah said that 8.52 crore people in Bihar have received free ration, 87 lakh farmers got Rs 6,000 per year, 44 lakh got homes and 1.17 crore women got LPG cylinders in the state.

"We will not allow Lalu Prasad to snatch funds meant for 1.41 crore 'Jeevika Didis' of Bihar," he added. PTI NAM NAC RBT ACD