Patna, Oct 31 (PTI) The discourse in poll-bound Bihar on Friday centred around the ruling NDA’s manifesto which promised to pull the state out of the clutches of poverty and unemployment by transforming it into a “global workplace and South Asia’s textile hub”.
The 69-page document visualised “a new-age economy” for the state in the next five years, during which it would also emerge as “the country’s AI hub” and “the new tech hub of eastern India”.
The ruling coalition also expressed confidence that Bihar would become “flood-free in five years” and proposed setting up a “flood control board” to oversee inter-linking of rivers and the speedy construction of embankments and canals, which it said would boost agriculture and fisheries in areas affected by annual flooding.
For the state where a majority of the people are still dependent on farming for livelihood, the manifesto proposed a “Made in Bihar for the world” drive aimed at a “two- fold rise in agricultural exports”.
The manifesto outlined ambitious targets including creation of one crore jobs, inclusive of “sarkaari naukri” (government jobs), establishment of metro railway services in four new cities, seven expressways, improved rail and air connectivity, besides a boost to “spiritual tourism” with setting up of one lakh green homestays for pilgrims visiting well developed “Ramayana, Jain, Buddhist and Ganga circuits”.
The opposition, predictably, was critical of the bombast and the “photo shoot, lasting for barely a few seconds”, that marked the release of the manifesto in presence of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union ministers Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi and other senior leaders of the NDA in Bihar.
Addressing a press conference, incidentally, at the same hotel where the NDA’s manifesto was released, Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Akhilesh Prasad Singh took exception to the fact that the longest-serving CM of the state, who heads JD(U), was “not allowed to take questions” from journalists, and “his BJP deputy Samrat Choudhary” addressed the media for a few minutes before leaving in a huff.
INDIA bloc chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav, who had occupied the centre-stage while the coalition’s evocatively titled manifesto “Tejashwi Pran (Tejashwi’s resolve) was released earlier this week, sneered at the ruling coalition.
“Why are they coming up with a manifesto of promises after having misruled the state for 20 years? They should not come up with a Sankalp patra but a ‘sorry patra’, apologising to the people of Bihar”, said Yadav.
The young leader, who has been questioning the soundness of mind of the 75-year-old chief minister, also said, “He (Kumar) might not even have been aware of what was going on. Perhaps to hide this from plain sight, the entire affair was finished in 30 seconds”.
“When I promised government jobs to one member of every household, they were calling it impractical. Now they should tell us how do they propose to create one crore jobs. They have bragged about setting up a factory in every district. What had they been doing for the last 20 years?,” he said.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah keeps saying Bihar does not have enough land for big industries”, said the RJD leader, when journalists approached him with queries.
“The NDA has no blue print for bringing into the mainstream 90 lakh poor households. They promise mid-day meals at schools, inadvertently admitting that the scheme which has been in existence for long, was not being implemented in Bihar. Their promise of free, quality education from KG to PG rings hollow. The manifesto seems to be meant for kids studying in junior KG”, added Yadav.
It was a day when rainfall disrupted assembly poll campaigns in several parts of the state.
Nadda’s rally in Buxar was cancelled while Nitish Kumar had to remain content with “a more than 25 km long drive”, described by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha as a “grand (bhavya) roadshow across 11 constituencies”.
Nonetheless, some political heat was generated by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who gave vitriolic speeches in Siwan, Vaishali and Bhojpur districts, raking up Bihar-born first President Rajendra Prasad’s alleged humiliation at the hands of “Congress Prime Minister Nehru”, and alleging “descendants of foreign invaders who destroyed the ancient seat of Nalanda are trying to establish political Islam”.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh, whose party is contesting assembly polls in Bihar for the first time, with candidates in 83 out of 243 seats, alleged at a press conference that serious anomalies remain in the electoral rolls even after SIR, with “five lakh duplicate voters and another one lakh with no intelligible names”. PTI TEAM NAC MNB
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