Do they speak on jobs, women safety: Chidambaram after PM rallies

Former union minister P Chidambaram slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi over not being vocal about the real issues while campaigning in Bihar. Elections for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly are set to be held in three phases, out of which polling in the first phase was conducted on October 28.

New Delhi:Ahead of the second phase of voting in Bihar, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday flayed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that the NDA leadership was not talking about the "real issues" during campaigning.

"If you were a voter in Bihar, do they tell you about unemployment, jobs, new industries, MSP for food grains, crop insurance, flood relief, women's safety etc?" the former Finance Minister asked.

"The answer is ZILCH... nothing. You are being asked to vote for the NDA on a message that contains NOTHING," he added.

He said that during his election rallies in Bihar on Sunday, Modi talked about "... in Bihar there is a double-engine government while on the other side are two crown princes".

"The PM also invoked significant deities in Bihar -- Chhath (the sun god) and Ganga -- to seek votes for the NDA. At Bagaha, Modi raised the issues of construction of Ram temple, scrapping of Article 370 and the CAA (sic)," Chidambaram added.

Modi on Sunday accused certain opposition parties of indulging in "scaremongering" on the issues of Citizenship (Amendment) Act and abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution, apart from the Ram Temple issue.

"When the CAA came, they (opposition) spread the lie that the citizenship of many people will be taken away. Today, about a year has passed. Has any Indian lost his citizenship? They have always proved their selfishness by just lying or scaremongering," the Prime Minister alleged at a public rally at Bagaha in West Champaran district.

Elections for the 243-seat Bihar Assembly are set to be held in three phases, out of which polling in the first phase was conducted on October 28. After the second phase of polling for 94 seats on November 3, remaining 78 constituencies will go to poll on November 7. The counting of votes is due on November 10.

(IANS)