Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took a sharp swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday, challenging him to prove his explosive allegations against the Election Commission by “detonating” what he had described as an “atom bomb of evidence”.
Speaking at a media event in Patna, Singh questioned the seriousness of Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the Election Commission of India was involved in “vote theft” during polls in Bihar. He said, “Rahul Gandhi says he is in possession of an atom bomb. If it is so, he should detonate it at once. He should just ensure that he is himself out of harm’s way.”
The veteran BJP leader, known for his rhetorical jabs, also reminded the audience of past statements by the Congress MP. “He had threatened Parliament of an earthquake, but when he spoke, it turned out to be a damp squib,” Singh said.
He defended the Election Commission, calling it an institution of “unquestionable integrity” and said it was working tirelessly to conduct fair elections in Bihar. “It does not behove the Leader of the Opposition to make frivolous statements about a constitutional body,” he added.
Singh went further, accusing the Congress of historic hypocrisy. “His own party has blood on its hands, having tried to murder democracy in 1975 with the imposition of Emergency,” he said, recalling the darkest chapter in India’s democratic journey.
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Turning to the upcoming assembly polls, Singh described Bihar as standing at a historic crossroad, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) offering continued development and the opposition INDIA bloc representing regression. “One path leads to a golden future; the other to the dismal past of lawlessness and caste strife,” he asserted.
Praising Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Defence Minister said the JD(U) leader’s governance over two decades had pulled Bihar out of despair. “Under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, Bihar is no longer seen as a basket case. Even an internationally reputed magazine like The Economist, which had once condemned the state as the armpit of India, is now taking note of its turnaround.”
Singh credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government with accelerating that progress since 2014, noting, “The NDA government has extended an assistance of Rs 9 lakh crore to Bihar, so far, in contrast with the previous Congress-led UPA, which gave only two lakh crore in a decade.”
He spoke of the decline in Bihar’s economic standing before the NDA era. “The state’s per capita income, which was 80 per cent of the national average at the time of Independence, had slumped to less than 30 per cent by the time the NDA took over in 2005.”
Describing the state's earlier plight, he said, “Kidnapping for ransom had become a cottage industry and businessmen felt compelled to flee the state.”
Singh ended his speech with a tribute to Bihar’s cultural and historical legacy, calling it the land of enlightenment and empire. “This is the land where Buddha got enlightened and where Lord Mahavira was born and spent much of his life. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the ancient history of India is much about Bihar.”
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