New Delhi, Oct 22 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday accused RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav of attempting to fool the people of Bihar by making unrealistic poll promises and also targeted Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party, exhorting the people to give mandate to the “tried and tested” leadership of NDA instead of falling for Mahagathbandhan’s ploy or “any new experimental politics”.
BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi termed Yadav’s poll promises a “cruel joke” as he raised questions on the RJD leader’s intentions behind making such “lofty promises” which would require funds way higher than the current budget of the Bihar government.
“He has promised that he will provide government jobs to one member of every family. As per current projections, Bihar’s population is about 13.5 crore… The number of families whose one member is to be given a government job (as promised by Yadav) would come around to 2.90 crore. Their salary will be in the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
“If their estimated average salary comes around Rs 75,000, the expenditure on this head would come around Rs 29 lakh crore, while Bihar’s current budget is around Rs 3,17,000 crore,” he told a press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
“Tejashwi Yadav, you stop fooling people of Bihar — the land of Buddha,” he said.
The BJP leader appealed to the people to be wise and not fall for such promises made by the RJD.
“When Tejashwi Yadav said that 10 lakh to 20 lakh people will be given jobs, understand his ‘manobhav’ (intentions). By saying so, he meant that jobs will be given for Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. And if that is not possible, he will take land,” he said in a swipe at the RJD leader, who is facing corruption allegations.
On Jan Suraaj Party’s charge that its candidates were being threatened by senior BJP leaders, Trivedi said, “Those who have not been able to build trust in their own party, how will they be able to gain trust of the people? Jan Suraaj is trying to present a new idea, but people of Delhi have already suffered from such an idea and given a message that there is no scope for any new experimental politics. Such kind of politics can be detrimental.” “It’s proved,” he said, citing alleged scams during the erstwhile AAP government in Delhi led by then chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“Under the leadership of Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Lalu Prasad Yadav also came (into the political arena) opposing corruption and the Bofors scam, and he created a record in corruption due to which he was disqualified from contesting elections,” he said.
The BJP leader said people of Bihar must use their wisdom to understand that there is no scope for any new experiment “this time”.
“They will show faith in the tried and tested leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. This is our belief,” he said.
Trivedi listed various measures taken by the NDA government for the welfare of women and girls and attributed them to the “methodical, consistent and pragmatic approach” of PM Modi and the Bihar CM, as he exhorted people to vote for the NDA in the upcoming polls in Bihar.
“The Mahagathbandhan will even snatch away the livelihood of Jeevika Didis. During Lalu Yadav’s rule, not just women’s livelihoods but their safety and dignity were also under grave threat,” he added.
The BJP leader said that Tejashwi Yadav is making tall promises ahead of the polls “out of frustration” as ‘Mahagathbandhan’ is embroiled in “internal conflicts”.
It has become “so disorganised” that its constituents are not able to finalise their lists of candidates, prepare a joint manifesto, hold a joint press conference or even decide their CM and Deputy CM faces, he said.
“Meanwhile, the Congress brought in its expert, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who has considerable expertise in managing alliances. When he was chief minister, six BSP legislators had given unconditional support to the Congress in Rajasthan,” Trivedi said.
This move is a clear indication of the Congress “strategy”, the BJP leader claimed and suggested other constituents of the Mahagathbandhan to remain vigilant.
“There is no reward for this alliance. Who is in cahoots with whom is unknown,” he added. PTI PK PK RT RT
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