Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav released the party’s manifesto for Bihar elections in Patna Saturday and stressed again that if voted to power he will provide 10 lakh jobs immediately.
The Grand Alliance chief ministerial face also promised loan waiver to farmers in the state, and reduction in electricity tariff.
“This is not a manifesto but it is a promise. It is a promise of change. It is a detailed document touching upon all relevant aspects to make Bihar prosperous,” said Yadav.
“People used to mock us, how will we give employment…jobs. There is a difference between earning and jobs. One can earn by selling pakodas, cleaning the drains, or picking up garbage. We are not saying that. We are clearly saying that we will provide 10 lakh jobs. We are going to provide government jobs in our first cabinet meeting itself,” said Yadav.
With the BJP and JD (U) questioning the RJD over this promise, Yadav explained the arithmetic behind the figure.
Apart from the immediately filling up the 4.5 lakh vacant positions in the state government, an additional 5.5 lakh jobs would be provided in medicine, education, engineering and police services, he said.
“The 4.5 lakh jobs would be provided immediately. There is provision in the government. Aaj tak hawaa hawai baatein hua karti thi lekin ye humaara Sankalp patra hai (We’re not making empty promises). Like it used to be done before… We are making a promise and we will deliver on it,” said Yadav.
He added that the manifesto carries a message from RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and former CM Rabri Devi. “Lalu ji aur Rabri ji ka sandesh for the people of Bihar is also there in the manifesto,” he said.
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‘Jobs in the first cabinet meeting’
The RJD manifesto said the party would fulfill the jobs promise in the first cabinet meeting.
“I could have also promised one crore jobs just for the sake of promise. If we had to make a false promise, why would we say we would create 10 lakh jobs? We could have also said 50 lakh or 1 crore jobs but why 10 lakh? We have to make Bihar better. We don’t make false promises like the BJP,” said Yadav.
The BJP has promised 19 lakh jobs in its poll manifesto released Wednesday.
“There are 4.5 lakh vacancies in government and we will fill them up… Nitish ji is not able to handle Bihar and he is tired,” he said.
Other promises
Eyeing the young voters, the manifesto said application forms for competitive government exams would be free. The candidates would also be provided free transportation from their home district to the examination centre.
Under MNREGA, every family would be guaranteed work and the number of days would be increased from 100 to 200, said the manifesto. It also promised to do away with contractual jobs in the teaching sector and instead offered permanent jobs.
On the industry front, the manifesto said all the non-functional mills including sugar mills, paper mills and jute mills, among others, would be revived.
The RJD also promised to bring in a new law to do away with the “three anti-farmer laws” of the Centre passed last month.
“Under the new law, the government mandis would procure produce at a higher rate and there will be a guarantee that the government will buy the produce,” said the manifesto, adding that all farm loans would also be waived.
The manifesto also promised to reduce the current power tariff. “In a poor state like Bihar the rate of electricity is very high. We will make changes to this to provide relief to the people,” it said.
Bihar will go to polls on 28 October in a three-phase election. The results will be declared on 10 November.
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This stupid fellow will collect taxes, appoint one million people for government jobs with or without work, and use tax money for paying their salaries. He doesn’t have the faintest clue about economy or job creation. If he is elected, Bihar is assured of another five or more years of nepotism, misrule and lawlessness.
A ninth grade failed student like Tejaswi must be very weak in arthimetic.