Re-elect Modi to prevent infiltration: Shah in Bihar

Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday hit out at the alliance of "selfishness" ruling the state of Bihar; claimed that the Opposition bloc named its alliance INDIA because the UPA name was associated with scams; and predicted a massive victory for the BJP-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with Prime Minister Narendra Modi returning to his post for a third consecutive term.

- Bishnu K Jha

The senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader made the remarks at a rally in Jhanjharpur parliamentary constituency, situated close to Nepal and Bangladesh, in Madhubani district of Bihar.

If the Lalu Prasad-Nitish Kumar alliance wins the assembly election again in Bihar, Shah said border areas will fall to infiltrators.

"If the Lalu-Nitish combine returns to power in Bihar and Narendra Modi does not come back as Prime Minister, the entire region will become infested with infiltrators," said Shah. "In such a situation, many types of issues will arise in Bihar. Do you want the area to be teeming with infiltrators?"

He exuded confidence that the BJP-led NDA will win "all 40 seats" in the state in 2024.

"I want to thank the people of Bihar because in 2014, with 40 percent votes and 31 seats, you made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister. In 2019, you made him the Prime Minister for second time by giving 53 percent votes and 39 seats. As of now, I am confident that NDA and BJP will win 40 out of 40 seats by breaking the record of 39," Shah said.

Attacking the ruling alliance for appeasement politics, the home minister also targeted the Congress, a partner in the state's ruling alliance, for dragging its feet on Ram temple at Ayodhya and Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Shah also credited PM Modi for the abrogation of Article 370 and the construction of the temple which is set for inauguration "by January next year".