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New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday lashed out at the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress over derogatory remarks made against him and his late mother during a Voter Adhikar Yatra event in Bihar last week.
Addressing the people virtually, Modi said the incident was deeply painful and amounted to an insult to all mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country.
“Mother is our world. Mother is our self-respect. I had not even imagined what happened a few days ago in this tradition-rich Bihar. My mother was abused from the stage of RJD-Congress. These abuses are not just an insult to my mother; they are insults to the mothers, sisters, and daughters of the country,” the Prime Minister said.
He recalled that his mother, who passed away after completing 100 years, had no role in politics and yet was dragged into political attacks. “My mother separated me from her so that I could serve crores of mothers like you. That mother of mine, who is no more, was abused from the stage of RJD and Congress. This is very sad, painful,” he added.
The Prime Minister also referred to his emotional connect with Bihar’s people, saying he could feel the pain of the women of Bihar as his own.
Earlier in the day, Modi virtually launched the Bihar Rajya Jeevika Nidhi Saakh Sahkari Sangh Limited in the presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy Chief Ministers Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Sinha. He hailed the initiative as a “wonderful step” for women’s empowerment.
“A major basis of India’s development is the empowerment of its women. To empower women, it is essential to remove the difficulties from their lives. That is why we are taking several measures to make the lives of mothers, sisters, and daughters easier,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Jeevika Nidhi has been established to provide affordable loans to women’s self-help groups associated with Jeevika, reducing their dependence on microfinance institutions that charge exorbitant interest rates of 18–24 per cent.
The cooperative society will function digitally, ensuring transparent fund transfers directly into the bank accounts of Jeevika Didis. Around 12,000 community cadres are being equipped with tablets to facilitate the process.
The initiative, supported jointly by the Centre and the Bihar government, is expected to benefit around 20 lakh rural women by providing timely credit, fostering entrepreneurship, and boosting small enterprises across the state.