Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday cautioned the people of Bihar against trusting what he described as “jungle raj wearing a new mask,” as he made a spirited appeal for another term for the NDA in the poll-bound state.
Addressing the ‘Bihar Samagam’ conclave jointly organised by ABP News and Hindustan in Patna, Shah said the BJP-JD(U) alliance had rebuilt Bihar from “a pothole” and was now ready “to raise a grand structure of development on firm ground.”
“I have been here to seek the blessings of the people of Bihar, which has been like a pothole we filled up in the last 20 years, and we propose to build a grand structure on the firm ground that is now in place. I plead with the people not to trust those who would bring back jungle raj, wearing a new mask,” he said.
The BJP leader asserted that the NDA, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had transformed the state through improved infrastructure, welfare delivery and security. “I urge the people to give one more chance to the NDA, which is contesting under the credible face of Nitish Kumar. This would help us in continuing the progress that has been made over the years, with Modi above and Nitish below,” he said.
Shah dismissed opposition charges that the NDA had announced a flurry of pre-poll sops after neglecting citizens’ needs for years. “The opposition says so because it is worried for itself. They do not know who is going to lead them and which party wants to field whom from which seat,” he remarked, taking aim at the RJD-led INDIA bloc’s disarray over seat-sharing.
Also read: Shah hails Nitish for ending Jungle Raj, launches NDA's Bihar campaign
The home minister also took stock of the NDA’s welfare outreach, noting that “five kg of free foodgrains are being given to 8.52 crore people every month,” while 87 lakh farmers have received Kisan Samman Nidhi payments. He added that 52 lakh had benefited from crop insurance, 3.53 lakh from the Ayushman Bharat scheme, and 1.57 crore women had received gas cylinders under Ujjwala Yojana. “Forty-four lakh homeless people have got new houses,” he said.
Citing his own experiences, Shah recalled how travel and law enforcement in Bihar had improved over the decades. “Many years ago, when I had visited Gayaji for the Shraaddh of my father, it took me six and a half hours to reach the pilgrim town from Patna. Today you can reach there in two hours,” he said, crediting the NDA government for bringing down crime and ending “kidnapping for ransom and caste wars.”
He underlined that Bihar had seen “a massive improvement in infrastructure,” with new colleges, hospitals and civic facilities transforming the landscape. Looking ahead, he said the state’s strength lay not in industrial land but in its people. “We wish to tap the untapped potential in Bihar, which may not have abundant land for setting up big industrial units, but has a large pool of talented workforce. We are in an age of Artificial Intelligence, and we want to make the state an AI hub,” he said.
Shah invoked Bihar’s glorious past, describing it as “the land of emperors like Chandragupta Maurya,” and called on citizens to help the NDA restore that legacy. “It was the seat of power for the entire country for nearly 700 years, and there is no reason why it cannot regain its lost glory,” he said.
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