Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday persisted with his "pickpocket" barb, asserting that an astronomical ₹20,000 crore have been incurred on rallies spoken at by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bihar till date. The Bharatiya Janata Party also intensified its counterattack, with posters being plastered all over the state capital carrying the line "Mera baap chaara chor, mujhe vote do" (my father stole fodder reserved for cattle, vote for me) humiliating the leader of opposition who heads the INDIA alliance in the coming assembly elections.
The young leader, who had a day ago raised the hackles of the ruling National Democratic Alliance by alleging that exorbitant ticket fares of Vande Bharat made Modi look like a "pocketmaar" (pickpocket), used the expression again in a stinging social media post.
He alleged that rallies of Modi in Bihar, since 2014, have cost "₹100 crore each" and there have been "200 such public meetings" so far.
"So the overall sum spent over the period, the same one that has witnessed five elections (three Lok Sabha and two Vidhan Sabha), is ₹20,000 crore. numerous such gatherings have been arranged by the government although the goal has been, obviously, electoral," the former Bihar deputy CM asserted.
Also read: Tejashwi accuses PM Modi of cheating Bihar
Importantly, Modi was in Siwan district on Friday, his fifth visit to the state this year, second in less than a month, and reported as "51st" since becoming the prime minister.
Yadav, who was not in any mood to let go of his diatribe, accused, "What do we call a person who shrewdly spends public money for his own publicity.and poses as an honest man?. Of course, pocketmaar, not madadgaar (a savior of the people)." The BJP, which confronts the RJD in the assembly polls coming up in a matter of months, lashed out in full measure.
A day after BJP's old state unit chief and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary had tried to insult Yadav using the iconic dialogue from the classic 'Deewaar' — Mera baap chor Hai (my father is a thief) — in a clear snipe at RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's corruption slur, the party engaged in a "poster war".
The colourful slogan is written in the posters, officially not owned by the party, alongside a caricature that depicts the father-son duo on the back of a buffalo, a clear connection to the fodder scam. The conviction in the fodder scam disqualifies Prasad, a former chief minister and ex-Union minister, from contesting the elections.
Also read: Bihar ready to oust Nitish govt, says Tejashwi
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