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NEW DELHI: Bihar’s political temperature soared on Wednesday as national leaders from both the NDA and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc hit the campaign trail. Union home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh, and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies across the state. Several chief ministers from BJP-ruled states also campaigned in support of NDA candidates.Addressing three back-to-back rallies at Alinagar, Begusarai, and Rosera, Shah attacked the I.N.D.I.A. bloc, alleging that both the Congress and the RJD were dynastic parties aiming to promote their heirs as prime minister and chief minister respectively. “Both posts are not vacant,” he declared. “The BJP has given tickets to many youngsters for the Bihar Assembly polls, but the RJD and Congress have not, as Lalu ji wants to make his son Tejashwi the chief minister and Sonia ji wants her son Rahul to be the PM. But I want to tell them that both posts are not vacant,” Shah said. Calling the Opposition’s Mahagathbandhan a ‘thug bandhan’, Shah alleged that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was involved in the fodder, bitumen, and land-for-jobs scams, while the Congress was linked to corruption cases worth ₹12 lakh crore. At Darbhanga, Shah criticised Rahul Gandhi, saying he came to Bihar to launch a ‘save infiltrators yatra’, referring to the Congress leader’s Voter Adhikar Yatra. In Rosera, he said the Bihar polls were crucial to prevent the return of ‘jungle raj’, describing the NDA as the ‘five Pandavas’, a strong alliance of five parties. Addressing a rally in Barh (Patna district), defence minister Rajnath Singh said a two-thirds majority for the NDA in the 243-member Bihar Assembly would be a fitting tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary, which coincides with the poll results on November 14. Alluding to the RJD’s tenure, Singh claimed that “the people of Bihar do not want goonda raj.” He said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had successfully reversed the damage inflicted during RJD rule. “It is unfortunate that the entire family of a former chief minister faces corruption allegations, while no charge can be levelled against Nitish Kumar, who has governed for 20 years,” he said. Singh accused the Congress and RJD of “defaming constitutional institutions” like the Election Commission and said democracy cannot function if such bodies are undermined. He asserted that Bihar’s GDP now stands at 14 per cent, the second-highest in India, and that the NDA government is implementing several welfare schemes for women. He further said the BJP does not indulge in politics of caste or religion, claiming that “Opposition parties want to secure votes of Bangladeshi infiltrators.” He also pointed out that after the Congress “failed to award the Bharat Ratna” to former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur for decades, it was the Narendra Modi-led NDA government that honoured him with the award. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that he would “do anything for votes, even dance,” and accused the BJP of running the Nitish Kumar government “by remote control.” Kicking off his campaign with back-to-back rallies alongside RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga, Gandhi said, “You must have seen the drama on TV that Modi was going to take a dip in the Yamuna for Chhath Puja. It was cancelled when it was exposed that a puddle had been formed with clean, piped water since the river is so dirty.” “Modi is ready to enact all kinds of drama. Tell him you’ll vote for him if he dances, and he’ll readily perform Bharat Natyam,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd. Gandhi asserted that under Tejashwi Yadav’s leadership, a new government would be formed in Bihar that would work for all sections of society, cutting across caste and religion. Tejashwi Yadav, addressing the rally, alleged that Modi was “interested only in opening factories in Gujarat” while seeking victory in Bihar. He promised that, if voted to power, the opposition would make LPG cylinders available at ₹500 and regularise all contractual government employees. In Patna, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the NDA’s “double-engine government” had zero tolerance for anarchy and vowed to prevent the return of “jungle raj.” “Forces trying to revive mafia raj in Bihar will be nipped in the bud. The bulldozer is ready if needed,” he asserted. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, and former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi also addressed rallies in Danapur, Muzaffarpur, Banka, and other constituencies in support of NDA candidates.
