Janta Dal United, Rastriya Janta Dal , Congress and Samajwadi Party are holding a major Swabhiman rally in Patna on Sunday. The four parties have tied up in a pre poll alliance for the upcoming Bihar elections.
Top leaders of these parties including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, RJD supremo Lalu Yadav and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will address the rally. This is first jointly organised public meeting between the four parties to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
Addressing the rally, Sonia said, “Some people love to show Bihar down and ridicule Biharis’ DNA. Narendra Modi is doing nothing but showbazi. Country’s economic condition deteriorating because of Modiji’s wrong policies. I am sure that people of Bihar will fully support our grand alliance because our “mahagatbandhan” is founded on the idea of walking the path of development.”
Sonia also criticised Modi for what she said another U-turn on land ordinance. She said, ” Modi govt took a “U-turn” by allowing the land ordinance to lapse due to our fight against.”
With Nitish Kumar leading the charge as the Mahagathbandhan chief ministerial candidate, the rally is focussing on his image of “sushashan babu (good governance)” who turned around Bihar in the last 10 years.
Addressing the rally, Nitish took a dig at the prime minister by saying that he was forced to take U-turn on land ordinance.
He said, ” Today prime minister had to bow down by taking a step back on land ordinance. His Mann Ki Baat today was not his mann ki baat but he spoke the words of ordinary people. Police in Delhi is controlled by Modi ji; There is less crime in Bihar as compared to Delhi, Haryana.”
He asked the crowd, “Modi questioned my DNA. Who am I, I am one of you. Jinke poorvajo ka desh ki azaadi mein koi yogdaan nahi hai, wo humare DNA ko gadbad kehte hain (Those whose ancestors had not contributed to India’s freedom are now questioning my DNA.) Humara DNA kaam karne wala hai, zubaan chalaane wala nahin hai. PM Modi is trying to fool the people of Bihar in the name of Bihar package. We need special status for Bihar more than the special package. It will bring jobs and growth to the state.”
He added, ” You promised black money. Where’s the black money? PM Modi opened 17 crore accounts under Jan Dhan scheme, most of them are vacant. Manmohan Singh spoke less because it was part of his nature, this PM, (Modi) just keeps talking. He doesnt listen to anyone: Nitish”
The rally is happening just two days before Modi’s fourth rally in the state. Modi will address last Parivartan rally at Bhagalpur, scheduled for September 1.
With Lalu Prasad and Sonia Gandhi on the stage, the message that Nitish Kumar would like to send across is that the Mahagathbandhan is united. He will also counter BJP’s charges that Nitish is hesitant to share stage with Lalu.
Samajwadi party which is also a part of the alliance but has negligible presence in Bihar has also been offered 5 seats and will have its representatives on stage.
Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have left no stone unturned to make their first joint show of strength a huge success by mobilising their party machinery. JDU and RJD workers had been working for the last few weeks to make the rally a grand success.
