Union home minister Amit Shah sounded the poll bugle on Saturday with a fiery rally at Bihar’s Jhanjharpur in Madhubani district, marking the beginning of the BJP’s campaign in the Mithilanchal region for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
At the rally, the Union home minister launched a scathing attack on Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and leaders of the Opposition "INDIA" bloc. He urged the masses to ensure the victory of the BJP-led NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections for "the development of Bihar".
Terming the Opposition alliance as "a team of opportunists", Mr Shah said, "Lalu-Nitish alliance is like oil and water. Oil contaminates the water. They cannot remain intact for long. The RJD chief wants to make his son the CM of Bihar. Mr Kumar wants the Prime Minister’s post, but I want to tell him that there is no vacancy because Narendra Modi is going to come back as the PM after Lok Sabha polls".
"The law and order situation has already deteriorated in the state. The situation will worsen if the grand alliance returns to power. Ensure the victory of NDA in Bihar for a better Bihar," Mr Shah added.
The Union home minister said that the Opposition parties changed the name of their alliance because UPA was associated with rampant corruption. He said: "They changed their alliance name because their leaders were aware that they cannot come back with that name. Mr Yadav, as a railway minister during the UPA government, was involved in corruption."
While addressing the masses, the Union home minister slammed the leaders of the Opposition bloc INDIA for making anti-Sanatan remarks and disrespecting Ramcharitmanas.
"Leaders of their alliance are disrespecting Ramcharitmanas. They are cancelling festive holidays. They have been relating the Sanatan Dharma to diseases. They are doing all this for appeasement. The Opposition alliance had earlier also opposed the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and didn’t want the removal of Article 370 from Jammu & Kashmir," Mr Shah said.
The Union home minister’s visit to Jhanjharpur was part of the BJP’s outreach programme ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. According to political analysts, the Mithilanchal region is important for the BJP because, out of five Lok Sabha seats, three are with the grand alliance.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had contested the polls in alliance with the JD(U) and the LJP and won 39 seats. However, after the JD(U) formed an alliance with the RJD, the Congress and other political parties, the BJP has been trying to strengthen its organisational structure in Bihar.
During the speech, Mr Shah said that the BJP hopes to break a record by winning all 40 seats.
"In 2019, the NDA won 39 seats and hopes to create a record by winning all 40 seats," Mr Shah said.
