New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on November 4 asserted that the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition in Bihar will win more than 160 seats in the assembly elections and said people are backing the ruling coalition for its governance and development work.
Amit Shah said that all five parties in the NDA alliance are in a “comfortable position”.
“We are in a comfortable position. We will win more than 160 seats and win a majority. (NDA parties) will have almost similar strike rate,” Shah said.
Targeting the RJD, Amit Shah cautioned that if the party and its allies win the polls “jungle raj” will return to Bihar.
“RJD has an ideology of lathmar rally….If they win, jungle raj will return with a new face and new clothes,” the Union Minister said.
He also dismissed opposition allegations of differences in the ruling NDA. Answering queries, Amit Shah said he has stated that there is no vacancy of Chief Minister or Prime Minister.
“Nitish Kumar is the CM and Narendra Modi ji is the PM, where is the vacancy? I have said in public meetings that there is no vacancy for the posts of the CM and the PM,” he said.
Answering a query about speculation about Nitish Kumar leaving the manifesto release press conference early, he said there were prominent leaders of five parties at the launch of NDA’s manifesto and it would have taken long if everyone had spoken.
“If everyone had spoken for 25 minutes, it would have gone for 140-150 minutes. After the manifesto was released, our senior leaders Nitish ji and Nadda ji (BJP chief JP Nadda) left, and other leaders gave interviews for half an hour.”
Amit Shah also condemned the death of Dularchand Yadav in a violent clash between two groups in Bihar’s Mokama, and said that Janata Dal (United) candidate Anant Singh has been arrested in the case.
“In ‘jungle raj’, the law works on the basis of who the perpetrator is. During their regime, there were massacres where 35-40 people were killed, and the perpetrators used to hide in the Chief Minister’s house, and the police used to protect them. The Mokama incident should not have happened. But he (Anant Singh) was not saved, rather was sent behind bars,” he said.
He also took potshots at RJD over cases faced by its leader Lalu Prasad Yadav. “You ask Lalu ji. He is not an accused, but convicted, and Rahul Gandhi stands with him in Gandhi Maidan.”
Bihar will undergo polling for the Assembly elections in two phases on November 6 and 11. The campaigning for the first phase of polls ended on Tuesday. The results will be announced on November 14. (With inputs from ANI)
