Shun lantern, even poor now have electricity, says Modi

Gaya: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that law and order was very poor in Bihar from the 1990s till 2005 and the state's present-day problems stemmed from those days, appealing to the voters to shun 'lantern' since electricity had reached every poor household in the state.

Addressing a public rally in Gaya, his second in the poll-bound state, Modi brought up the issues of bad condition of roads, alleged sheer lawlessness and people afraid of buying new cars for 'fear of a particular party getting wind' of it and grabbing the vehicles.

"There was a time in Bihar when electricity was supplied to the homes of the rich. The need for lanterns (RJD poll symbol) in today's Bihar is over. Today, every poor household in Bihar has an electricity connection; there is light."

"Back then, in Bihar, people did not buy cars so that the workers of a political party did not get to know of their earnings. It was a time when going from one city to another, people were not sure whether they would reach their destination or be kidnapped midway," the Prime Minister said at the Gandhi Maidan here.

He claimed that in the 90s, Bihar was pushed into a quagmire of chaos and disorder. Even today, the roots of many problems of present-day Bihar lie in the chaos of the misrule in the 90s, he alleged.

Raising the issue of Naxalism that once plagued this belt in Bihar, Modi said that much effort was put in and strict action taken in the last few years to curb such activities in the country. Naxal presence has now been restricted to few areas, he said.

The Centre made efforts to bring Maoist-hit areas out of violence and introduced development. But he also warned that "preparation is afoot to take Bihar back to that age of darkness".

Flaying the Mahagathbandhan, he alleged that those who give Naxals a "free hand" in the past are now standing against the National Democratic Alliance.

"When action is taken against those advocating to break or divide the country, these people (opposition) stand with them. The model of these people has been to make Bihar sick and helpless," Modi alleged and appealed for vote for the NDA in the Assembly polls to "fulfil the hopes and expectations" with which they put it in power at the Centre.