This election for future of Bihar, 'jungle raj' will return if RJD comes back to power: Shah

Patna/Gopalganj Nov 01 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday raked up the "high-handedness" of Sadhu Yadav, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi's estranged brother, to warn people of the poll-bound state that "jungle raj" will come back if RJD returned to power.

Shah, who was scheduled to address an election rally in Gopalganj district, spoke virtually as bad weather prevented him from reaching the venue.

"This election is an opportunity to decide who should be entrusted with the future of Bihar. On the one hand are those who had ushered in 'jungle raj'. On the other hand is the duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, who have brought development," he said.

"The people of Gopalganj have never voted for the RJD since 2002. I am sure they will keep up the trend... Nobody knows the misdeeds (kaarnaame) of Sadhu Yadav better than the people of Gopalganj," he added.

Yadav, who had been both the MLA and the MP from Gopalganj, was known to wield tremendous clout while her sister was the CM of the state.

One of the incidents blamed on him was forcefully driving away with cars from a showroom during Rabri Devi's eldest daughter Misa Bharti's wedding in 1999. The incident was mentioned by PM Modi at a rally earlier this week, even as he did not name anyone.

Another incident in which Yadav's name had cropped up was the Shilpi Gautam murder case that took place in the same year. It was recently in the news when Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor alleged the complicity of Samrat Choudhary, then an RJD leader who is now with the BJP and currently the deputy chief minister of the state, in the case.

The home minister also listed the names of the villages in central Bihar which had made headlines during the RJD rule for massacres that took place in an era when several districts of the state were in the throes of a bloody feud between outlawed Naxal groups and private militias of upper caste landlords.

Shah, who spoke for a little over five minutes, also reiterated the promises made by the ruling NDA in the manifesto released a day earlier.

"There are two major things in the manifesto -- one for farmers and one for women, that I want to reiterate. Recently, Nitish Kumar and PM Modi have deposited Rs 10,000 into the accounts of 1.41 crore 'Jeevika Didis'. They will send up to 2 lakh to all Jeevika Didi in different ways. Second, we give Rs 6,000 per year to 27 lakh farmers of Bihar. Now, we will add Rs 3,000 to this and give Rs 9,000," he said.

Shah also said that all the sugar mills in the state will be reopened in the next five years. PTI PKD NAC SOM