At rally in Bihar, Sonia Gandhi responds to Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar’s allegations

Sasaram: When Congress President Sonia Gandhi held a rally in Bihar’s Sasaram town today, just days after Narendra Modi’s public meeting here, the recurrent theme was development.

Mrs Gandhi was responding to the remarks made by the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, who had hit out strongly at two-time Sasaram MP and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar. He had alleged that her high-profile job left her with little time to work for her constituency, as a result of which it was neglected and under-developed.

In her speech, Mrs Gandhi responded to that allegation by saying, “I am happy that Meira Kumar has carried forward the legacy of Babu Jagjivan Ram. We made Meira Kumar the first woman Lok Sabha Speaker. I am very happy with how she has performed.”

Addressing a crowd of about 10,000 people, Mrs Gandhi also took on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who had attacked her party yesterday during his rallies, accusing the Congress of “spreading rumours” about the alleged lack of development in Bihar.

“We want to warn you against the people who till a few days ago were with the BJP and are now pretending to be secular. They are now trying to blame us for poor development. We want to tell everyone that we will and are working for the development of the country.”

This is Meira Kumar’s second term as MP from Sasaram, where development is the biggest poll issue. A dam in the area that has been in the making for the last 30 years is yet to be completed.