New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) Hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi for NDA’s big win in Bihar, the BJP on Saturday targeted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by describing the result as the state youth’s rejection of underage mascots wearing T-shirts in winter, doing push-ups in rain and “leaping into fishing ponds”.

BJP leader Amit Malviya, in stinging criticism of Gandhi without naming him, said on X, “In this election, the youth have delivered a verdict that transcends theatrics. They have chosen performance over pretence, substance over stunts, leadership over gimmickry.”

“They are not swayed by underage mascots whose so-called achievements revolve around jiving on bridges, posing on bikes, wearing T-shirts in winter, winking for the cameras, blowing flying kisses, flaunting abs, doing push-ups in the rain, or leaping into fishing ponds for dramatic photo-ops,” he said.

Pointing to the young age profile of a majority of the state’s residents, Malviya said the NDA’s win in the Bihar elections is the “voice of a young, ambitious India”.

“These young Indians place their trust in the vision and delivery of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.

Malviya, in charge of the BJP’s National Information and Technology Cell, said in a post on X, “Bihar has spoken – loudly, clearly, and without ambiguity.”

He said, “The victory in Bihar is not just emphatic, it is deeply significant, emerging as it does from one of India’s youngest states. Nearly forty per cent of Bihar’s 128 million people are below the age of eighteen, and another twenty-three per cent fall between eighteen and twenty-nine. This is the voice of a young, ambitious India – clear, confident, and unhesitating in its choice of leadership.”

“Bihar has spoken – loudly, clearly, and without ambiguity,” he said.

Malviya also reflected on the controversies during the Bihar poll campaign.

“The Bihar results have reignited the debate around women voters. The Congress–RJD combine not only dragged the Prime Minister’s mother into political mudslinging during the campaign, but their supporters and apologists are now deriding the women of Bihar as having sold out,” said Malviya.

As sick as this mindset is, can anyone seriously complain that the NDA government empowered millions of women by giving them financial independence and turning them into micro-entrepreneurs? asked Malviya.

“If simply ‘putting money in people’s hands’ ensured victory, then KCR in Telangana and Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh would never have lost. Both governments emptied state coffers before elections. No one objected then. No one objected when the Congress distributed ‘guarantee cards’ promising Rs1 lakh per year to every poor woman before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which they eventually lost. And unlike Bihar, their handouts were mere doles, not part of any asset-building or income-generating programme,” said Malviya.

In Bihar, we heard countless stories of women purchasing goats, sewing machines, opening food stalls, grocery stores, small food-processing units, and more – all built on the foundation of real empowerment, said the BJP leader.

The NDA recorded a landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, winning 202 seats out of 243. The Mahagathbandhan, led by the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, ended up winning just 35 seats.

–IANS

rch/svn