Narendra Modi’s posters torn in Gaya ahead of rally

Kumar also targeted Modi’s close aide and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah.

“Today, the per capita power consumption in a tiny state like Sikkim is 1000 kw, while in Bihar it is a meagre 150 kw”. “Tourism can change the face of Bihar and it can end unemployment, and this is only possible if Jungle Raj is completely wiped out”. “You have suffered their arrogance, deceit and exploitation for the last 25 years”.

“The youth here [of Bihar state] leave their aged parents to go out of the state for employment”. They have claimed the development was due to the better administrative acumen of BJP ministers.

Observing that Bihar was part of the “BIMARU” states, Modi said BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were able to usher in development and bring the states out of the BIMARU status.

It was Modi’s second public rally after one at Muzaffarpur last month when he kickstarted the BJP campaign for the coming Bihar assembly polls.

Mr. Modi took a dig at Mr. Prasad who was incarcerated in the multi-crore fodder scam case. “He should have spoken about Gujarat or how many jobs his government has given to engineering graduates”. Modi escalated the war of words with both Kumar and Yadav.

Just as Modi captured the imagination of a young India in 2014 with his promise of digitising the nation, Kumar is doing the same with the youth of his state.

“It’s regretful that Modi is branding a duly-elected government, that too with massive mandate, as Jungle Raj”.

The officer said the Maoist rebels have also threatened vehicle owners in their stronghold in rural pockets not to provide vehicles to carry BJP’s supporters to the rally.

“We will take Bihar out of BIMARU tag in the next five years by economic development like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan”. “We believe that the people of Bihar will give a befitting reply to those who have insulted them”. Where will it fall? “I do not know who is having poison and who is serving it?”

Bihar’s assembly elections are due later this year.

The anti-BJP coalition is projecting Nitish Kumar as its chief ministerial candidate.