Published 22:46 IST, October 16th 2020
Fadnavis compares 'Engineer CM Nitish' to RJD's '9th fail Tejashwi' at 1st Bihar rally
Sounding the poll bugle, Bihar election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis on Friday, made a controversial comment on RJD's Tejashwi Yadav's educational qualification
Sounding the poll bugle, Bihar election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis on Friday, made a controversial comment on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's educational qualification. Addressing his first Bihar public rally at Siwan, Fadnavis touted the number of colleges opened under NDA government. While talking about education, he compared CM Nitish Kumar's qualifications to Tejashwi's, saying 'he cannot think about good education'.
Fadnavis: 'Tejashwi a 9th fail'
"On one side is our NDA CM Nitish Kumar who is an engineer, and on the other side is RJD's CM candidate - a ninth (std) fail. If CM himself is ninth fail, will he think of good education? Will he think about the future of your children? RJD is concerned about their family and not the people," said Fadnavis. He said that under the NDA government medical colleges, ITI, Engineering and polytechnical colleges were established.
BJP warns Chirag Paswan
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Union I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar asked LJP chief Chirag Paswan to stop taking senior BJP leaders' names while campaigning. Asserting that BJP had no 'B' or 'C' team in the state, Javadekar said that Paswan was trying to create confusion. Terming LJP as a 'vote-cutter, BJP expressed confidence in the NDA coalition winning 3/4ths of the majority in the upcoming polls. Bihar will vote in 3 phases - October 28, November 3, and November 7, with the results being declared on November 10.
He added, "We only have one stong team - BJP, JDU, HAM, VIP. Our coalition will win with a 3/4ths majority and we will defeat the unholy Mahagathbandhan of Congress, RJD, Left. Chirag's party will remain a vote-cutting party, which will not make a great difference. We do not have any connection with Paswan's party and tell him to stop taking our leaders' names."
Bihar polls
The NDA- led by BJP poll-in-charge Devendra Fadnavis will contest on a 121-122 seat share with JDU, while LJP has decided to contest separately, but is open to a post-poll alliance. Similarly, Mahagathbandhan which saw initial revolt from Congress finally agreed to a 144-70 seat-share formula with Congress, and three other Communist parties contesting on 29 seats. The NDA and Mahagathbandhan face three coalitions - 'Progressive Democratic Alliance' (PDA) - comprising of JAP, AJP, SDP, BMP, and Grand Democratic Secular Front - comprising of AIMIM, RLSP, BSP, SJDD and SBSP. Bihar will vote in 3 phases - October 28, November 3, and November 7, with the results being declared on November 10.
Updated 22:46 IST, October 16th 2020