Like Naxal-free, will make Bihar flood-free in next 5 years: Amit Shah

Patna: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said if the NDA government is voted to power again in 2025, then “I promise you to make Bihar free from the perennial flood problem in the next five years, just like we made it naxal-free”.

Bihar is slated to have Assembly polls in October-November this year soon after Monsoon - during which half of the 38 districts in the state remain inundated in the flood water.

Shah, the former BJP president and key poll strategist in the saffron camp, sounded the poll bugle in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, the home town of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and slammed the former Bihar CM in no uncertain terms.

'Choice is yours'

“You will have to choose whether you want to opt for Lalu-Rabri jungle raj, or whether you want to throw your weight behind the double engine and development-oriented government of Narendra Modi-Nitish Kumar,” Shah asked the modest gathering amid scorching Sun.

To buttress his point, Shah cited figures and statistics during his speech. “In 2004-05, the Bihar Annual Plan size was of Rs 23,000 crore. In 2024-25, the Annual Plan has increased manifold to Rs 3,23,000 crore, which indicates how fast development has taken place in Bihar in the last two decades. The previous regime of Lalu-Rabri was primarily known for flood scam, bitumen scam and, above all, the fodder scam. Lalu, who ate the fodder for animals, has just one aim: to make his son the CM of Bihar, after making his daughter the MP,” Shah minced no words in assailing the RJD president.

'Welcome...but no false promises': RJD puts up posters

The RJD, meanwhile, put up posters in Patna and asked Shah not to make any hollow promises. “Swagat hai aapka. Lekin jhoote vade mat kijyega (You are welcome in Bihar. But don’t make false promises)” read the posters put up outside Rabri Devi’s residence. The posters reminded the BJP leader about the earlier promises of giving Rs 15 lakh into each Indian’s account, providing 2 crore jobs to the unemployed, bringing back black money from abroad and re-opening of closed sugar mills in Bihar.

Nitish reaffirmation

Meanwhile, earlier, at a function of Cooperatives Ministry in Patna, where Amit Shah and Nitish shared the dais, the Bihar Chief Minister reiterated his stand that he won’t dump the NDA ever again. “In the last one decade, I joined them (in oblique reference to RJD-led Mahagatbandhan) on two occasions and then returned to the NDA fold twice. Today I assure you that I won’t leave the NDA ever again,” a visibly weak Nitish, with shaken confidence, told Shah here on Sunday.