On eve of PM’s visit to Bihar, Congress, RJD question unfulfilled promises

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Bihar on Thursday and Friday has drawn sharp criticism from Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as leaders of the two Opposition parties alleged that he has been playing with people’s emotions by making false promises during his election rallies.

Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram said Modi’s back-to-back visits to Bihar and announcements of development projects worth several thousand crore rupees have reminded people of the tall promises he made during elections rallies in the past.

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RJD’s Bihar Spokesperson Chittaranjan Gagan asked the prime minister to share details of the initiatives taken in the direction of making Bihar a developed state during his 11 year-rule.

The two leaders recalled that PM Modi had announced a special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar in a public meeting in Ara in August 2015. The package had several projects related to roads, bridges, railways, energy, agriculture and education. He had even announced Rs 54,713 crore for national highways and bridges and Rs 3,000 crore for agriculture and education, including plans for a central university in Bhagalpur and a mega skills university.

Rajesh Ram said, “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called the package ‘jumlabaazi’, claiming that most of those schemes were already approved. As the PM returns to the Shahabad region of Bihar for a rally in Bikramganj on Friday, he must explain why not even a quarter of this Rs 1.25 lakh-crore package was spent in ten years.”

He also alleged that the PM has been playing with statistics as all his promises remained on paper.

The Congress leader added, “Be it infrastructure, health or employment — not a single promise has been implemented till date. The PM had promised expansion of IIT Patna, establishment of Institute of Food Technology, adding 75,000 seats to medical colleges and Rs 11,500 crore flood relief scheme. All these schemes remain on paper. He has been playing with statistics, ignoring the real needs of Bihar.”

RJD leader Chittaranjan Gagan said Bihar is a backward state. It is bigger in population and area than the developed state of Gujarat. The Central government should have made dedicated efforts to ensure fast growth. But the ‘double-engine’ NDA government has failed miserably despite ruling the state for most of the past two decades and 11 years in the centre.

He said, “People of Bihar no longer take the PM’s visit seriously and there is no enthusiasm left for it. They have understood that his promises and announcements will ultimately prove to be mere rhetoric.”