With the political temperature rising ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, the BJP on Wednesday took a dig at the Opposition INDIA bloc (RJD-Congress-Left alliance) pointing to the ‘infighting’ in the Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the run-up to the polls.
In a scathing attack on RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, the saffron party sought to expose the unrealistic promises he made to the electorate without going into the details about their implementation.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said, “I think the allies of the Mahagathbandhan have a clear idea of what the Congress’s actions could be in the future. And I think that distracted and confused by these problems, Mr. Tejashwi Yadav has now started saying things that not only question the credibility of his claims but also seem to make a mockery of the electoral process.”
The BJP leader slammed Tejashwi Yadav for the poll promises he made for the people of Bihar that included government jobs to every family. “Earlier, he (Tejashwi Yadav) had claimed that every member of a family would be given a government job. His poll promises amount to making a mockery of the electoral process. He promised one government job to every family. Bihar’s current population is a little above 13 crore, and about 23 lakh people are government employees. Going by his measure, about three crore permanent government jobs will need to be created, and this would entail an expense of about Rs 10 lakh crore,” Dr. Trivedi said.
“But I believe any sensible person can understand the absurdity of this promise. Bihar’s population is around 13.5 crore. By that logic, just the salaries alone would cost nearly Rs 29 lakh crore, while the total budget of Bihar is only Rs 3.17 lakh crore,” he said.
“This is the land of Lord Buddha, don’t try to fool the people of Bihar. This is my appeal to Tejashwi and the INDI bloc,” he said.
“Tejashwi ji, please stop mocking the people of Bihar. Your alliance and its politics have already become a joke in themselves,” the BJP national spokesperson said.
Lashing out at the Grand Alliance in Bihar, Dr. Trivedi said, “There’s intense infighting within the Mahagathbandhan. The same people who were making a drama about the voter list not being correct have not even been able to finalise their own candidates.”
Dr. Trivedi further said when the Nitish government was formed; the women’s literacy rate in the state stood barely at 33 per cent, and this has now risen to 77 per cent.” “Lakhpati Didi, Drone Didi, Sukanya Samridhi scheme have been empowering women for a decade now. A methodical, consistent and pragmatic approach under the double-engine government is yielding results for people of all categories; however, the Opposition is trying to damage these achievements by making false and highly inflated promises,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Tejashwi Yadav held a press conference in Patna, announcing several welfare initiatives for women.
He announced that Jeevika Didis, who works as a community mobiliser, will be made permanent as a government employee after the Mahagathbandhan forms the government in Bihar.
He assured that the salary of Jeevika Didis will be increased to Rs 30,000 per month. He took a dig at the BJP-JDU double-engine government over its decision to provide Rs 10,000 under the Mai Bahin Maan Yojana, labelling it as a “bribe” coming as it does at a time when the assembly elections are closer. “They distributed Rs 10,000 under the Mai Bahin Maan Yojana for the women of Bihar, which is a bribe. As Amit Shah himself said it is a loan. That means they will recover the amount. Today, we are going to make another historic announcement,” Yadav said.
“All of you are aware of the injustice done to the Jeevika Didis under this government. We have decided that all the Jeevika CM (Community Mobilisers) Didis will be made permanent and will be given the status of government employees. We will also increase their salary to Rs 30,000 per month. This is not an ordinary announcement. This has been the demand of Jeevika Didis for years,” he added.
Tejashwi Yadav announced that if the Mahagathbandhan government came to power, it will waive off the interest on loans taken by Jeevika Didis and will be given interest-free credit for the next two years.