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Addressing a meeting at Lakhisarai in Munger, Bihar, Shah said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was trying to bring together 20-odd parties “involved in Rs 20 lakh crore scams”, and that the JD(U) leader who keeps changing sides “could not be trusted”.
While Shah focused on corruption, which was also the theme of Modi’s attack on the 15 Opposition parties which assembled at Patna on June 23 for their first such meeting for the 2024 elections, Nadda repeated the PM’s charge of nepotism against the parties, in his speech in Bharatpur in poll-bound Rajasthan.
The two senior BJP leaders also referred to the PM’s overseas visits, talking about how he had been “feted” by heads of state.
Shah said Modi had “secured” India in the last nine years, with the country making rapid progress under his rule, and that the people had to choose between a strong PM like him and a “20-time failed Rahul Gandhi”.
Lakhisarai, the venue of his speech, falls under the Lok Sabha constituency of JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh or Lalan Singh.
Attacking Nitish, who took the lead in organising the Patna meeting, Shah said the JD(U) supremo would again cheat the people siding with him. “Can one trust a person who keeps changing his houses very often?… Nitish Kumar has gone to the doorsteps of the Congress in his attempt to oust us from power. But in reality, Nitish does not want to become PM, but wants to fool the ageing Lalu Prasad. Nitish Kumar wants to stay back in Bihar and remain CM.”
The parties which came together in Patna had been involved in multiple scams between 2004 and 2014, Shah said. “But this is the land of JP (Jayaprakash Narayan), who had undertaken a movement against corruption. By bringing together the Congress, Lalu (RJD chief) and Kejriwal (Aam Aadmi Party supremo), they want to usurp power. They are compromising with every principle and value,” he said, adding that Nitish had started his political career by taking on the Indira Gandhi government (during the Emergency) and had fought Lalu over corruption.
Shah contrasted this with the Modi government’s “decisive” actions, including surgical strikes. He said PM Modi had also managed to lift Article 370, without the bloodshed the Opposition warned of. “No one dared throw even a pebble.”
Speaking about Modi’s “rising popularity” abroad, Shah said: “Right from Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, UK and France to Egypt, there have been chants of Modi, Modi… When heads of state meet him, some ask for an appointment, some for his autograph and (one leader) touched his feet. It is not respect for Modiji or the BJP but for the people of Munger, Bihar and 130 crore Indians.”
At his speech in Bharatpur, after inaugurating a BJP office in the district, Nadda named Opposition parties, as the PM had done in his speech, and said each was only interested in promoting their families.
“In Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP is fighting the National Conference of Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah; and the PDP of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti. In Punjab, the Shiromani Akali Dal is a dynastic party; in Haryana, there is a dynastic party. Uttar Pradesh is a state of 24 crore people, but the fight of the BJP is with a dynastic party, the Samajwadi Party, which is Akhilesh’s party. Who are we fighting in Bihar? The RJD is the party of Lalu, Tejashwi, Tej Pratap, Misa… In West Bengal, it’s Mamata (Banerjee) and her nephew Abhishek,” said Nadda.
He added: “In Odisha, who are we fighting against? Naveen Babu, (his father) Biju Patnaik. In Andhra Pradesh, who are we fighting against? The YSRCP, a dynastic party. In Telangana, our fight is against K Chandrashekar Rao and his dynastic Bharat Rashtra Samithi. The father is the Chief Minister, the son a minister, the daughter-in-law is eager to become MP, the grandson is getting ready to contest elections. Who is in the DMK? In Tamil Nadu, first there was M Karunanidhi, today there is Stalin. Who are we fighting in Maharashtra? The Shiv Sena of Uddhav Thackeray and his son; and the NCP’s Sharad Pawar and his daughter.”
The Congress, he said, was all about the Gandhi family. “Mother Sonia, son Rahul, daughter Priyanka, baaki sab ki chutti (others can take a toss)… If you vote for Modiji, know that you are voting for the country and for the future of your own children.”
Going on to attack the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in the state, the BJP president said it was sunk “neck deep in corruption”, and that the CM had given his MLAs “licence to do corruption” as long as they helped him stay in the chair.
He also accused the Congress of doing “appeasement politics”. Laws are not applied uniformly, he claimed. “If there is a festival of Hindus, it is seen in one way. If there is a festival of other religions, it is seen in a different way.”
Going on to mention Modi’s visits abroad, the BJP president said the Congress gets jealous when world leaders praise the PM. “The Prime Minister of Australia says, ‘Modi, you are boss’. Elon Musk says, ‘I am your fan’. Someone else says, ‘You are a hero’… and it hurts the Congress. What do they say? They say Modi is a scorpion, snake, neech, that he is a chai bechne wala (tea seller). The more they say this, the more eager are 140 crore people to bless Modiji.”
Nadda was accompanied during his Rajasthan programmes by senior BJP leaders from the state, who are believed to be in different camps, including former CM Vasundhara Raje, BJP state president C P Joshi, Leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Satish Poonia.
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