Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a sharp counterattack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of “staging a drama” over Chhath Puja. Slamming the NDA government, Gandhi also accused CM Nitish Kumar of turning the youth of Bihar into labourers, and “destroying” all employment options for them.“He put on this whole show about Chhath Puja, telling the entire country that he would take a holy dip in the Yamuna. But behind the scenes, a pipe was set up to bring in clean water, clean water arranged specially for Narendra Modi to bathe in. PM ko nahana hai toh saaf paani laenge, Yamuna ki gandh mein Narendra Modi nahi jaenge (If the Prime Minister has to bathe, they’ll bring clean water; Narendra Modi won’t step into the dirty water of Yamuna),” the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha said, speaking at a rally in Darbhanga. “But when the pipe for clean water appeared in the media, Narendra Modi refused to bathe in the Yamuna,” Gandhi added.The Congress leader also accused the Prime Minister of distracting young people with social media. “Modi wants you to become addicted to making reels, Instagram, Facebook… This is the new high (‘nasha’) of the 21st century. He wants such a scenario because this would ensure that the youth remain distracted, and do not hold his government accountable for their problems about education, health and employment,” he told the crowd. Rahul’s attack came hours before campaigning for first phase elections in Bihar comes to a close.The remarks came amid a heated Bihar election campaign in which PM Modi has targeted the opposition INDIA bloc for “insulting” Chhath Puja. Addressing a rally in Nawada, the Prime Minister had said, “RJD and Congress members call the worship of Chhathi Maiya a gimmick, a drama. These people have no idea about Surya Dev’s powers.”The Bihar assembly elections will be held in two phases, with polling on November 6 and 11 and the results to be declared on November 14.In the 2020 assembly election, the BJP contested 110 seats and won 74, securing 19.8% of the vote share. The Janata Dal (United) contested 115 seats and won 43, with a 15.7% vote share. The Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) contested seven seats, winning four, and achieved 0.9% of the vote share.
