Bihar Assembly Elections: Amit Shah Frames Choice As Development Versus Lawlessness

Union Home Minister Amit Shah presents the Bihar Assembly elections as a pivotal choice between the BJP-JD(U) alliance's development agenda and the RJD's lawlessness. He highlights key initiatives aimed at improving the lives of farmers and the poor.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday framed the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections as a choice between “development and jungle raj,” drawing sharp contrasts between the governance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the “lawlessness” under the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan.

Originally scheduled to address physical rallies in Gopalganj and Samastipur, Shah switched to a virtual format after bad weather grounded his helicopter.

Highlighting the BJP–JD(U) alliance’s pro-poor and pro-farmer agenda, Shah said that under PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, Rs 10,000 each has been deposited in the accounts of 1.41 crore 'Jeevika Didis’, and that support would eventually rise to Rs 2 lakh.He also promised to increase farmers’ annual assistance from Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000 and reopen all closed sugar mills within five years. The long-pending Punaura Dham project, he added, would be completed in two years.

Targeting Sadhu Yadav, brother of former CM Rabri Devi, Shah reminded voters that Gopalganj had rejected the RJD since 2002, citing the region’s bitter memories of the “jungle raj” era. He accused Yadav of “criminal activities,” including forcibly taking cars during Misa Bharti’s 1999 wedding—an incident recently recalled by PM Modi.

In Samastipur, Shah also took aim at Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of siding with “infiltrators” through his Voter Adhikar Yatras. He assured that “every infiltrator will be expelled” and lauded the Election Commission’s decision to hold a nationwide verification drive.

Calling the election “a battle for Bihar’s future,” Shah urged voters to “choose between those who brought lawlessness and those who delivered progress.” His remarks underscored the BJP–JD(U)’s strategy to contrast their development record with the RJD’s governance failures.