PM claims high voter turnout shows people trust in 'Narendra-Nitish'; Congress, PK counter

Patna, Nov 7 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday claimed the high voter turnout in the first phase of the assembly elections in Bihar was a sign of "trust people have in the track record of Narendra and Nitish".

However, the Congress and Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor countered the assertion, claiming that the 64.69 per cent voter turnout was in favour of change.

Modi was back in the state to address rallies in Aurangabad and Kaimur districts, where he asserted that the high polling percentage, for which credit also went to the state's "Matri Shakti" (women), was proof that people were not willing to vote for "jungle raj" allegedly represented by RJD.

Repeatedly using the word “katta”, a country-made pistol, the PM accused the principal opposition party of "teaching even children the language of guns".

He reiterated that the RJD had forced its ally Congress to accept Tejashwi Yadav as CM candidate "by pointing a katta" at the head of the grand old party and asserted that "the common people will not elect a 'katta' government".

The PM also mocked the Congress, claiming that it was "trying to find excuses for the impending defeat in Bihar", and, in an apparent reference to Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's "vote chori" allegations, he said "a net practice is going on of what to say after the defeat in assembly polls".

Gandhi, who addressed rallies in Banka and Bhagalpur districts, took a veiled dig at BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha who had voted in the Delhi assembly polls held earlier this year and was seen exercising his franchise in his native district of Begusarai on Thursday.

Although he took no names, the pictures of Sinha at a polling booth have gone viral on social media. The academic turned politician has, however, clarified that after the assembly polls in the national capital, he applied for deletion of his name from the Delhi electoral rolls as he wanted to be enrolled as a voter in Bihar.

The former Congress president, who had last week jumped into a muddy pond to interact with fishermen, also interacted with weavers in Bhagalpur, known as the 'Silk City of Bihar'.

Three rallies, followed by a roadshow, were also addressed by Union minister Amit Shah, who has been carrying out a whirlwind campaign in the poll-bound state.

Shah had begun his day by attending a function at the state BJP office in Patna to mark the 150th anniversary of 'Vande Mataram'.

Two rallies, in Rohtas and Gaya districts, were also addressed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The octogenarian was miffed with the delay in his first rally and told the election meeting that he was forced to spend “an hour and a half inside my helicopter” since authorities at the airport did not allow his chopper to take off until Modi had departed.

Rallies were also held in other parts of the state by BJP star campaigners like national president JP Nadda and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla had a different take from that of the PM on the high voter turnout. He claimed that the party was privy to "ground reports" that suggested 12 out of 15 ministers, who were among those contesting the 121 assembly segments in the first phase, were set to lose.

He claimed that ministers who could lose included Deputy CMs Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both senior BJP leaders, in the fray from Tarapur and Lakhisarai, respectively.

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor, however, maintained that the "highest turnout since Independence" suggested that people were yearning for a change, and his one-year-old party was on the cusp of scripting history.

He also claimed that migrant workers, who had returned to spend Diwali and Chhath festivities with their families and had stayed back for elections, would prove to be "the X factor". PTI TEAM NAC SOM