Within 24 hours of Bihar’s senior BJP leader and Senior Deputy Minister Sushil Modi scoffed at Tejashwi Yadav’s electoral promise to provide 10 lakhs of government jobs in the forced-to-vote state, the BJP in its own manifesto promised to provide 19 lakh of jobs. With less than a week to go to the first round of elections, the BJP in its manifesto, which it calls ‘Sankalp Patra’, has promised to provide almost twice as many jobs for the people of Bihar. The party has also promised to provide free coronavirus vaccines as soon as it reaches government and gets the necessary approval.
The BJP has promised three lakhs of jobs to teachers in the first year, five lakhs of jobs in the information technology sector for which it has promised to build a “next generation information technology center “. The party has also promised one lakh of jobs in the medical sector and 10 lakh of jobs in the agricultural sector. Thirty lakh of pucca houses by 2022 and making one crore women financially independent by extending Rs 50,000 crore into microfinance institutions are some of the other big survey promises made by the BJP.
On Wednesday, Sushil Modi had expressed disbelief at Tejashwi Yadav’s 10-lakh government job promise, a vote that has been gaining a lot of ground in the state. In a press release, Modi said that the salaries and payments of current government employees amount to ₹ 52,734 crore and that adding another 10 lakhs of employees will increase the amount to ₹ 1.11 lakh crore.
“If the opposition spends so much on salary, how are they going to cover the costs of a pension, student scholarship, bicycle, uniforms, midday meal, farmers’ subsidies, infrastructure and electricity? he questioned. The current state budget, he noted, amounts to just Rs 2,11,761 million. It wouldn’t leave room for loan repayments or even interest, he said.
Not just Sushil Modi, Prime Minister Nitish Kumar also lashed out at Tejashwi for the promise of work. “Where will you get the money to pay your wages? From the same scam you’re in jail for? Or will you print fake money?” Nitish had asked at a recent election rally in Gopalgunj.
Tejashwi had responded at a rally Tuesday to spikes from top NDA leaders. “It is very funny to know that the Chief Minister does not know after having led the government for 15 years. He is becoming a laughingstock. Much of this is planned spending,” he said, pointing to vacant positions in various spheres. including teaching.
And what about the money lost in scams, he questioned. “In recent years, Bihar had 30 billion rupees stolen from 60 scams. It was budget money. It was people’s money,” he said. “He (Nitish Kumar) has spent 500 million rupees on improving his image, on advertisements. All of this is in the planned budget,” he said.
.
