Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bihar on Thursday to inaugurate development projects and attend an election rally has invited fierce criticism from the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which have questioned the 'timing' of his political engagement in the wake of the deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
The Congress in Bihar accused the Prime Minister of insensitivity, contrasting his decision to proceed with his public engagements with Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, who returned early from an overseas tour.
“Leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi has cut short his US trip and returned to Delhi. Meanwhile, Modi ji will hold an election rally in Bihar today! The nation is in mourning, yet the Prime Minister is campaigning!,” Bihar Congress posted on X.
The RJD, too, slammed the Prime Minister’s visit, alleging that government machinery was being misused to ensure large public participation at the event in Madhubani, where Modi is scheduled to address a rally and launch development projects worth over ₹13,480 crore on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.
“The pyres of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack have not yet been lit, but the country's Prime Minister will come to Bihar tomorrow to campaign and deliver speeches because Bihar is holding elections this year,” the RJD said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The Nitish-BJP government is exerting immense pressure on BDOs, DTOs, DMs, SPs, and others to mobilise crowds. On government orders, officials are intimidating and threatening panch, sarpanch, ward members, committee members, and mukhiyas to gather and bring crowds. They are being forced to go to Madhubani,” it added.
Calling the situation an “undeclared emergency”, the RJD claimed that “the money of poor states is being squandered on political programmes.”
The Prime Minister’s programme comes just two days after terrorists opened fire at a group of tourists and locals at Baisaran meadow in Pahalgam, killing 28. The attack is being termed one of the worst since the 2019 Pulwama bombing.
In response to the strike, Prime Minister Modi cut short his two-day diplomatic visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to New Delhi ahead of schedule. He also skipped the official dinner organised in Riyadh on Tuesday evening, government sources said.
Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United), an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party, drew flak for skipping an all-party meeting convened in the capital to discuss the Pahalgam attack and the Centre’s response.
“All top JDU leaders are engaged in the Prime Minister's programme in Madhubani district today, so we are not able to attend the all-party meeting,” said JDU working president Sanjay Kumar Jha. “Whatever decision will be taken in the meeting, JDU will stand with the government decision and support the Government in the country's interest.”
At the all-party meeting, Union ministers are expected to brief Opposition leaders on the attack and subsequent steps taken, including India’s strong diplomatic messaging to Pakistan.
The government on Wednesday announced that the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 would be held in abeyance and the integrated checkpost at Attari would be shut with immediate effect.
The Pahalgam attack has once again revived national anxieties over cross-border terrorism. Tuesday’s massacre is the gravest such assault in the Valley since the 2019 Pulwama suicide bombing that killed 40 CRPF personnel. It also marks the most significant incident of terror after the revocation of Article 370.
Follow us
