Amit Shah Slams Rahul Gandhi Over Chhath Puja Remarks While Campaigning for NDA in Bihar Elections

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday delivered a fierce critique of Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Congress leader of betraying his "maternal roots in Italy" by disrespecting the Chhath Puja festival.

Addressing four consecutive rallies in election-bound Bihar, the former BJP president predicted that the INDIA bloc would face complete defeat as Bihar's citizens seek to "avenge" the "insult to Chhathi Maiyya," which occurred months after Congress workers in the state allegedly directed abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother.

"Rahul baba has said PM Modi and others who worshipped Chhathi Maiyya were indulging in drama. His maternal roots are in Italy, and hence he is incapable of appreciating Indian sensibilities," Shah claimed.

He urged voters to press EVM buttons with NDA symbols with "such rage that the tremors are felt in Italy".

Shah criticized the Congress and its allies for "thwarting for 70 years" the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya, noting that "a struggle had been on for five centuries, since the times of the Mughals, and continued under the British".

He praised the Modi government for developing a modern university in Nalanda, which "no marauder like Bakhtiyar Khilji will be able to destroy".

The Home Minister highlighted ongoing work to renovate Punaura Dham, the shrine at Goddess Sita's birthplace in Sitamarhi district, with an investment of approximately Rs 850 crore.

"In two years from now, you will see PM Modi performing the consecration ceremony (pran pratishtha) at Punaura Dham," Shah declared.

Shah began his Nalanda rally by invoking Chanakya and Chandragupta, the master-disciple pair from the region credited with establishing the powerful Maurya empire in ancient India.

The Union minister alleged that Bihar experienced 'jungle raj' during Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi's leadership.

"Bihar witnessed over 32,000 kidnappings and 12 major massacres during the Lalu-Rabri regime from 1992-2004... Nitish Kumar ended the 'jungle raj'... but RJD is trying to bring back 'jungle raj' in the state with a new face," he claimed.

He dismissed Tejashwi Yadav's assertion that if returned to power, the NDA would "recover with interest" money transferred to women in Bihar under welfare schemes.

"Nobody can dare to take that money back. RJD leaders must give up this diatribe," the Union home minister asserted.

Shah contrasted Nitish Kumar's 20-year rule, which saw "not a single massacre," against the RJD era when Naxal-affected areas experienced "38 carnages".

The home minister stated that since JD(U) president Nitish Kumar formed an NDA government in Bihar, "there has been a 20 per cent drop in murders while dacoities and kidnappings have gone down by 80 per cent".

"We are preparing the youth of Bihar to win medals in the 2036 Olympics that will happen in India," he added.

Shah alleged the UPA government was involved in scams worth Rs 12 lakh crore during its decade in power, whereas PM Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar remain beyond corruption accusations.

"Lalu Prasad was involved in fodder, land-for-jobs, bitumen and flood relief scams... whereas Bihar moved on the path of development under the Nitish Kumar regime and the Centre hiked MSP for agricultural produce and bolstered infrastructure," he stated.

He commended PM Modi for "making the country secure," citing "surgical strike," Balakot airstrike, and Operation Sindoor launched in response to Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks, contrasting these with "mayhem by terrorists during the UPA regime".

"We will also drive out infiltrators from Bihar who usurp poor people's foodgrains, employment and indulge in anti-national activities," he affirmed.

Shah announced plans to establish a medical college in Lakhisarai within two years, named after Bihar's first chief minister Shri Krishna Sinha.

The NDA candidates Shah campaigned for included Deputy Chief Ministers Vijay Kumar Sinha, the BJP nominee from Lakhisarai, and Samrat Choudhary, contesting from Tarapur in Munger.

The former BJP president urged voters to support the deputy CMs, cryptically remarking they were on their way to become "big men".

His emphatic statements favoring Choudhary, who has risen rapidly since joining BJP less than a decade ago, drew attention from the Congress.

The opposition party's media and publicity department chief Pawan Khera shared a news clip on X with the comment, "Only chief minister is bigger than the Deputy CM. Hope Nitish Kumar is listening."

Shah noted that under NDA rule, the Centre has invested Rs 18 lakh crore on road, railways and greenfield expressway projects in Bihar, while also establishing a Makhana Board.

He added that the Centre has spent Rs 9,500 crore reviving the Barauni fertiliser plant, Rs 900 crore on infrastructure projects in Munger, and secured GI tag certification for Katrani rice from the region.