Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday asserted that the BJP will dislodge the Mahagathbandhan’ from power in the next Assembly polls in Bihar, where the government is bad, characterised by bhrashtachar’ (corruption), arajakata (anarchy), and daman’ (oppression).
At a public event in Hisua, which is part of Nawada district and has the same name as a Lok Sabha constituency, Shah came up with the acronym and directly blamed the Nitish Kumar administration for the racial tension that forced him to postpone a visit to Sasaram, one of the riot-hit towns, earlier in the day.
Widely regarded as the BJP’s principal strategist, Shah described his impression of the situation in Sasaram with a rhetorical flourish, claiming “log maare jaa rahe hain” (people were being killed) and “goliyan chal rahi hain” (guns were blazing).
The administration has so far maintained that riots in Sasaram and Bihar Sharif towns have led to no casualties.
The BJP has blamed the imposition of Section 144 CrPC in Sasaram for the cancellation of the trip there of Shah, who was to attend a function on the occasion of Emperor Asoka’s birth anniversary.
However, the administration in Rohtas district, of which Sasaram is the headquarters, has claimed no prohibitory orders were clamped and show cause notices have been issued to police personnel who have been caught on camera telling people to stay indoors since Section 144 is in force.
I spoke to the Bihar Governor to take stock of the situation. Lalan Singh (president of JD(U)) is taking exception to that. He should remember I am the Home Minister of the country. If lawlessness prevails in Bihar, I cannot be a mute spectator. The state is a part of the country, fumed Shah.
Let Prime Minister Narendra Modi return to power in 2024 and help the BJP form its own government in the assembly polls that would follow. All the rioters will be hung upside down (‘ulta latka denge’), said the Home Minister.
In his speech that lasted for less than 30 minutes, the former BJP president deftly exposed the fault lines in the Mahagathbandhan’, recalling the scorn heaped at Nitish Kumar by his current deputy, Tejashwi Yadav, when the RJD was in opposition.
Shah also said Lalu Prasad, the RJD president and Tejashwi Yadav’s father, was hoping that his son would become the Chief Minister, but he did not know Nitish. He will not hand over power to Tejashwi once his prime ministerial ambitions get dashed with Narendra Modi’s return to power.
Facing an uphill task in Bihar, where the BJP was stripped of power last year and has to take on the seven-party ruling coalition, Shah nonetheless declared we will win all seats in the state, which is home to 40 Lok Sabha constituencies.
