Job promise rings hollow - Families of 2013 blast victims remind Modi of vow

Beena Devi. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Amit Bhelari, TT, Patna, Oct. 27: Families which lost their loved ones in the serial blasts at Gandhi Maidan during Narendra Modi's rally on this very day three years ago are upset that the promises made to them by the then prime ministerial hopeful and now occupant of the highest political post in the land have been tossed aside.

Six persons belonging to as many families from Kaimur, Patna, Nalanda, Begusarai, Gopalganj and Supaul districts had died in the explosions that went off at Gandhi Maidan at the Hunkar rally of Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, on October 27, 2013.

A few days after the terror attack, Modi had called on three families in Kaimur, Patna and Nalanda, handed over cheques of Rs 5 lakh to each of them and promised them jobs.

Modi could not visit Supaul and Gopalganj because of dense fog and a snag in his helicopter. But he spoke to the families there.

No member of any family has got the promised job yet though Modi is now Prime Minister. The NDA won 31 of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 election that Modi swept.

" Ab to koi ummeed nahin dikhti hai (We don't see any hope now)," said Beena Devi, widow of Vikas Singh (25), who perished in the blast.

Beena, a resident of Rampur Nimiya village in Kaimur district, is bringing up a son and daughter.

"My children were below 15 years of age when Modi had called on us on November 2, 2013. He had promised me a job and also the expense of education of my children. But nothing has come by in three years. My children are studying in an ordinary village school," Beena said over phone from her village home, 250km southwest of Patna.

"My father-in-law, Meghnath Singh, called up the Prime Minister's Office several times reminding them of Modi's promises to the family. But every time he called he was promised that Vikas's wife will get the job. But I continue to be jobless with no hope of getting it now," said Beena.

Ranjan Shrivastav, brother of Munna Shrivastav (40) who had died in the blast, echoed the sentiment of Kaimur's Beena.

"Narendra Modi had spoken to my bhabhi (widow of Munna) Priya Shrivastava over phone, promising that he would ensure a job to one family member apart from funding the education of Sonakshi, Munna's infant daughter who is five-years-old now. I am the only breadwinner in the family as we lost our parents long ago. We are in great hardship," Rajan said over phone from Bari Dhanesh village in Gopalganj.

Modi had spoken to Priya in Gujarati after hearing her speaking in his mother tongue. Priya and Munna had lived in Gujarat and had picked up the western state's language.

Rajan said he used to work in a private company in Delhi, earning Rs 13,000 per month. But his brother's death forced him to return to his village in Gopalganj. "On my return to Bihar I got a job in security company SIS (run by BJP MP R.K. Sinha) which fetches me Rs 6,000 per month only. The amount is too small to take proper care of the family," Rajan said.

"I had met BJP chief Amit Shah in 2014 in Delhi. But nothing came of it," he said.

Moni Singh, granddaughter of blast victim Raj Narayan Singh (65) of Gaurichak in Patna district, was distraught. "My father Ram Vinod Singh is one of three sons of Raj Narayan. Only one of the brothers has a job while the others are jobless. Modiji had promised a job to one of the brothers but that has so far not come by," Moni said. "We are living in extreme hardship."

Moni remembered that Modi had visited their family on November 2, 2013, and stayed with them for 20 minutes, promising a job and all help. "We harboured great hope from him but our hope is shattered now," said Moni, a final year graduation (arts) student at Fatehpur College.

Ram Vinod said he had met local BJP leaders umpteen times reminding them about the PM's promise. "But nothing has happened," he said.

The JDU and RJD launched a scathing attack on Modi for his failure to honour his promise. The JDU today put up banners at a few prominent locations in Patna in which Modi is shown making the promises.

"PM Narendra Modi had made a political visit ahead of the general election and he had no sympathy for the victims' family members. His promises were a bunch of lies,"" said JDU spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.

Deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said Sushil Modi and other BJP leaders should answer why the promises were not kept.

Sushil Modi on other hand attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar. "Exactly three years ago on this very day there was a conspiracy to kill Narendra Modi in Patna through serial bomb blasts. Nitish Kumar didn't make any security arrangement for Narendra Modi's rally in Patna out of jealousy," he said.

Sushil said Prime Minister Modi had fulfilled the promises he had made and some of the family members of blast victims have been provided jobs. But no details were shared.