Narendra Modi reprimands erring BJP leaders over beef remarks

Kalburgi killing and Dari lynching happened in low-BJP ruled states, said party president Amit Shah.

Summary: “Campaigning by Hema Malini will prove futile and BJP is bound to taste defeat in Bihar”, Lalu told newsmen on Monday and added the saffron party-led NDA parties “performed miserably in the first two phases of polling”. The Akali Dal’s open warning to the BJP has also struck a sombre note for the ruling dispensation, with the party becoming isolated within the NDA as well on this issue.

Lalu Prasad reiterated that both the Bharatiya Janata Party and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, were “anti-Dalit and anti-OBC”.

According to the Indian Express, Mr Modi has conveyed “extreme displeasure” about statements of this sort, and Mr Shah reportedly argued that the comments were a damaging distraction just as the party was trying to win elections in the northeastern state of Bihar by convincing voters that it would bolster economic development.

Stating that villages in the state are lacking basic facilities like electricity, medicines, schools and teachers, Shah alleged that the present government has failed to bring about any development in the last 25 years. Thereafter, it groomed other backward caste leaders like Modi, Uma Bharati, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Sushil Modi. “The Prime Minister wants to consider Bihar ahead on growth path”, he explained.

“Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and West Bengal which used the “Price Stabilisation Fund”, are selling pulses at Rs 120 to Rs 130 per kg through retail outlet”, he said.

The BJP has changed its campaign messages and slogans much more often than the Grand Alliance.

While the RJD won four, the JD(U) and the Congress won two each and the NCP one seat.

The opposition wasn’t impressed by the Shah’s admonition of his erring BJP colleagues.

“The BJP has taken all this seriously as our fight is against Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad ever since they joined hands”. The BJP, by contrast, has still not named candidates in 2-3 seats. “Lalu and Nitish have always opposed Congress and at the moment simply to regain energy they’re supporting the Congress party”, Shah stated. Shah said the people of Bihar did not want a return of the “jungle raj”, he said, in an attack on the Grand Alliance of the JD-U, the RJD and the Congress.

And while Modi did eventually condemn the lynching as “unfortunate”, many commentators pointed out that it took the prime minister – who is a prolific user of Twitter – several weeks to respond to the murder.