Aurangabad: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the record turnout in the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections showed voters were firmly backing the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and rejecting what he described as the “jungle raj” of past administrations.
Addressing a large gathering in Aurangabad, Modi said Bihar had “broken all records of history”, with 65% voter participation in Thursday’s polling. “Women have broken every record,” he added, claiming the turnout reflected “the return of the NDA in Bihar”.
The prime minister argued that voters were placing their trust in the “track record of Narendra and Nitish”, and accused the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress of failing to deliver development. “Even Congress doesn’t trust the RJD’s promises,” he said. “They don’t even mention the RJD manifesto.”
Modi repeated the NDA’s central campaign message that Bihar could not afford a return to the lawlessness associated with the RJD administrations of the 1990s and early 2000s. “From 1990 to 2005, jungle raj destroyed Bihar,” he told the crowd. “The people of Bihar do not want to allow jungle raj to return at any cost.”
He contrasted the NDA’s election promises with those of the opposition, which he described as “full of lies”. “Do you think the public is stupid? The public knows everything,” he said.
The prime minister also highlighted national issues, listing what he described as fulfilled guarantees, such as the construction of the Ram temple, the abrogation of Article 370 and the implementation of One Rank One Pension. “I have done what I promised from the land of Bihar,” he said.
Modi criticised the RJD and Congress over allegations of corruption, including the land-for-jobs case. “RJD people don’t know how much one lakh crore is,” he said, adding that the NDA had transferred that amount to soldiers’ accounts under OROP.
He accused the alliance of internal conflict and opportunistic politics. “RJD gave Congress only those seats it could not win,” he said. “The Congress was forced to announce the chief minister’s name at gunpoint. Their bitterness has grown so much that they will fight each other after the elections.”
Modi argued that Bihar needed a government capable of attracting industry and investment. “A developed Bihar is the foundation of a developed India,” he said. “We don’t want a government with guns in Bihar.”
He alleged that the opposition’s “five identities” were guns, cruelty, bitterness, bad governance and corruption. “Where there is gun rule, law fails. Where there is corruption, social justice is impossible,” he said.
