NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday released a joint manifesto for the Bihar Assembly elections. The 69-page manifesto details 25 promises by the NDA bloc.
The manifesto was released in the presence of all senior leaders of the alliance. Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Samrat Choudhary, briefing the media about the manifesto, said, “The NDA promised to give 1 crore plus government jobs and employment. Will conduct a skills census, create skill-based employment, and establish Bihar as a global learning centre with mega learning centres in every district.”
Earlier, the Mahagathbandhan, led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, released its manifesto titled ‘Bihar Ka Tejashwi Pran,’ promising to pass a law within 20 days of forming government, to provide government jobs to one member of every family in the State.
The Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the NDA was determined to build a “developed Bihar” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Mr Shah said this after the NDA released its manifesto promising jobs to one crore youth, making of one crore ‘Lakhpati Didis’, metro train services in four cities and seven international airports in the state, among others.
“Under the leadership of Shri Modi ji and Shri Nitish ji, the NDA is determined to build a ‘Developed Bihar.’ Today, the NDA has released its manifesto to accelerate the reach of development to every section of Bihar,” Mr Shah wrote on X. The BJP leader said the NDA was committed to giving employment to all youths of the state, affordable loans, factories in every district, 10 new industrial parks in the State and a permanent solution to migration from industries.
“Assistance up to ₹10 lakh for the EBC category, residential schools in every sub-division for children of the SC category, 50 lakh new pucca houses, ₹9,000 PM Kisan and 125 units of free electricity – with these, the NDA is set to establish new benchmarks of good governance,” he said.
Taking a dig at the NDA over its manifesto launch, the Congress claimed that the ruling alliance leaders wrapped up their press conference in “just 26 seconds” as they know that they are not returning to power and therefore, facing the public’s questions “felt like a waste of time to them.”
The Opposition party also pointed out that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar did not utter a single word at the presser and said “it is possible that he himself has not even read his manifesto properly.” The Congress slammed NDA leaders for “not allowing” Mr Kumar to speak at the release of the ruling coalition’s manifesto claiming that it was “an insult to Bihar.”
Talking to reporters in Patna, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot claimed that the NDA’s manifesto-release programme lasted only “26 seconds”, as the leaders were afraid of facing questions from journalists about their 20-year rule in Bihar.
(Manas Dasgupta)