- Amit Shah alleged RJD will create ministries for kidnapping and extortion if elected
- Tejashwi Yadav said he is not scared of Amit Shah and cited Advani's arrest by Lalu Yadav
- Shah promised a ministry to control floods if NDA returns to power in Bihar
The political temperature in Bihar has heightened, with top leaders trading sharp barbs ahead of the two-phase election that begins later this week. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has alleged that if the RJD is voted to power, ministerial portfolios will be created for kidnapping and other crimes. At another rally, RJD's Tejashwi Yadav claimed Shah had been threatening him and recalled that Lalu Yadav had arrested the BJP leader's mentor, Lal Krishna Advani, in the past.
'Ek Bihari Sab Par Bhari'
Tejashwi Yadav, the chief ministerial face of Mahagathbandhan, asserted that the RJD was not afraid of the NDA, using a tweaked version of the saying 'ek Bihari sau par bhari' (one Bihari can take on a hundred others) at a rally in Mokama.
"I want to tell Amit Shah that I am not scared. I am a Bihari boy. 'Ek Bihari sab par bhari'—you should always remember this. My father had arrested Amit Shah's guru, Advani ji. When Lalu ji was not scared of Advani ji, do you think he will be scared of Amit Shah ji? We know how to fight and win. We are not scared," he said.
Former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani was arrested in Bihar's Samastipur on October 31, 1990, on the orders of then chief minister Lalu Yadav, to stop his Rath Yatra from proceeding towards Ayodhya to start the campaign for Ram temple.
Confident of the Mahagathbandhan's victory in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav said, "The results will be out on November 14, followed by the swearing in on November 18."
'Portfolios For Kidnapping, Murder'
New ministries will be created for crimes if the RJD is voted to power in Bihar, Amit Shah alleged in a no-holds-barred attack at a rally in Muzaffarpur today.
"If Lalu's son (Tejashwi) becomes Bihar chief minister, three more new ministries will be created to oversee kidnapping, extortion, and murder. Your votes for NDA will save Bihar from RJD's 'jungle raj'. Efforts are underway to bring back 'jungle raj' with new faces," he alleged.
But if the NDA returns to power, a separate ministry will be created to control floods in Bihar, he said.
The union minister also ripped into Lalu Yadav and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for "trying to make their sons the Bihar chief minister and the prime minister." But, the BJP leader asserted, neither of the posts is vacant.
