Lauding the voters for the 'record turnout' in the phase 1 of the assembly elections in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that it shows the trust of the people in his and incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 'track record'.
Speaking at a poll rally in Aurangabad, the prime minister also hailed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the record turnout in phase 1, while predicting a landslide victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
"Modi-Nitish track record is in front of everyone. I do what I say. I said that the Ram Temple would be built, did that happen or not?... I had promised that the wall of Article 370 would collapse. Did that happen or not?" he said.
PM Modi also took a dig at the Magathbandhan and said that the Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) government at the Centre did not allow Kumar to properly run the government in Bihar during his first nine years as chief minister. However, his government after coming to power in 2014 allocated three times more money to Bihar for development.
He said the Congress does not even trust the promises made by the RJD in grand alliance's poll manifesto, adding that the former's state unit chief was insulted by the latter. Meanwhile, he lauded the NDA's manifesto and said the youth in Bihar trust the ruling alliance because lakhs of recruitment have taken place in the state.
"You have seen the track record of RJD and Congress. These are the people who extract land from Bihar's youth in exchange for jobs... And today they are out on bail. Agencies are investigating them. These jungle raj people are out on bail," he said.
"Aurangabad has also suffered from Naxalism and Maoist terror. We can never forget those days when the roads would become silent before dark. Buses coming and going here had to pay extortion money to Naxalites for safe passage," he added.
The RJD, the prime minister said, gave Congress only those seats where it has not won in the last 35 to 40 years. He also said that Lalu Prasad Yadav's party stole the chief ministerial face by putting a gun to Congress' neck.
"Even today, RJD and Congress are facing off on numerous seats. Those who can betray their own colleagues, can they do you any good?" PM Modi. "Congress and RJD only practice the politics of insult and abuse. The 'Namdar' of the Congress Royal family called Chhathi Maiya puja a drama."
