Patna, Nov 7 (PTI) Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday asserted that the high poll percentage in Bihar was indicative of “pro-incumbency vote”, rejecting the opposition’s claim that it was a warning bell for the ruling NDA in the state.
Pradhan, whom the BJP has named as its in charge for elections in the state, spoke to PTI video a day after 121 assembly segments, which went to polls in the first phase, registered a 64.69 per cent turnout, the highest in the history of the state.
“It is fantastic. It indicates a pro-incumbency vote. In the recent past, there have been many instances of people coming out in large numbers to vote for the incumbent. The same is happening in Bihar where the people’s trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remains rock solid and as high as the Himalayas,” said Pradhan.
Women had come out to vote in large numbers and people interviewed by the media have clearly said that they were voting for development and security, he said.
“This is a clear sign of which way the wind is blowing,” added Pradhan, indicating towards the NDA’s poll plank of “suashasan” (good governance) replacing the alleged “jungle raj” of the RJD-Congress era.
The senior BJP leader said he fully agreed with the forecast of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a former national president of the party, that the NDA could win “160 plus seats” of the 243-strong assembly.
Asked whether Nitish Kumar, who heads the JD(U), will return as the chief minister, he said, “We reiterate that there is no vacancy for the post in the NDA which has been occupied by the same person for 20 years. It may be a problem, though, in the opposition where several members of the same family vie for the seat of power”.
The senior BJP leader pilloried Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc’s Chief Ministerial candidate, who has been hoping that “bumper voting” indicated that the RJD-helmed coalition was going to win.
“In a democracy, people have a right to daydream. Let them indulge themselves. It is just a matter of a few days before the results are out,” said Pradhan.
Replying to a query on Rahul Gandhi’s allegation of “vote theft”, the Union minister alleged that the diatribe indicated a “mental bankruptcy on part of our Leader of the Opposition”.
“He seems to be guided by a team of social scientists who conduct researches only to build a fake narrative. He has been alleging vote theft even though his own party, the Congress, put up its best ever performance in several years in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” said Pradhan.
The BJP leader also downplayed the alleged attack, during the first phase of assembly polls, on the convoy of party colleague and Deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha in Lakhisarai.
“Bihar is a large state where we should overlook minor incidents. When we were children, dreadful tales of poll violence used to emanate from Bihar, where booth capturing used to be the order of the day and countless innocent lives were lost. Today, we are discussing the polls, quietly and comfortably, just a day after votes have been cast. The state has come a long way”, asserted Pradhan. PTI NAC NN
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