High turnout shocked INDIA bloc: PM as he wraps up poll campaign

Wrapping up his election campaign in Bihar from Bettiah, West Champaran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he was confident of the NDA’s victory and would return to Patna for the swearing-in ceremony. He said the high turnout of 65 per cent in the first phase of the voting on November 6 had come as “a 65-volt shock” to the Mahagathbandhan.

Addressing a rally, he said, “Since I started my campaign from Karpoorigram, the rallies have grown bigger...I urge you to ensure the NDA wins in all seats.” Taking a jibe at the RJD-Congress combine, he said the people of Bihar “do not want a katta sarkaar”. He urged the people to ensure that “jungle raj” does not return to West Champaran.

During the rally, he promised that if the NDA was again voted to power, Bihar would be known as a driving force in food processing, technology and textile industry. Earlier, at a rally in Sitamarhi, the PM took potshots at Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi clearly aimed at his viral fishing clip. “Fishermen in Bihar have done wonders that some people have started diving into the ponds in the state... maybe they are practising how to sink in the elections,” PM Modi said.

The PM praised the fishermen for increasing fish production in the state. “Earlier, Bihar imported fish for its own consumption, now it is sending the produce to other states,” he remarked.

Claiming that in the first phase of the polling the Mahagathbandhan had received “a 65-volt shock”, he said, “Now on November 11, it is your chance to give them a greater shock.” A dozen Assembly seats in and around Sitamarhi district will go to the polls on November 11.

The local connect

The PM tried to reach out to people in Sitamarhi on Saturday. “Six years ago when I came here, the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Temple was to be delivered, I was praying for a favourable judgement. And no place is better to pray then the land where Sita was born. My prayer was answered,” he said. “Now it is the time for Sita Mata’s temple to come up,” he said.

Recalls Rajiv Gandhi’s ‘15-paise’ statement

PM Modi recalled the statement of late Rajiv Gandhi when he was the PM. “He had said that out of every rupee sent from Delhi to the people only 15 paise reached them. Had I not opened the Jan Dhan accounts, the money sent to you would have been looted,” he said, stressing that the NDA government would increase welfare and self-employment schemes and increase the pace of industrialisation.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Amit Shah addressed a meeting in Purnea where he promised that in the next five years, 25 new sugar mills would come up in the region.