‘Bihar has become unemployment capital of India’: RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav

Days after losing the Bihar assembly election to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday targeted the Nitish Kumar government over unemployment in the state.

He said that Bihar has become the unemployment capital of the country. “The public can’t wait anymore. If they are unable to provide 19 lakh jobs in the first month, then we will join the public in protests across the state,” Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The remark comes in the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which contested the polls in alliance with the Janata Dal (United) or JD(U), promising to generate 1.9 million jobs. In its 11-point Sankalp Patra (document of pledges), the BJP had pledged to expand the minimum support price regime, and recruit 300,000 teachers, among others. It also promised free Covid-19 vaccines for Bihar whenever they are approved. The RJD-led Grand Alliance on the other hand had offered to provide jobs to one million youth.

Yadav had on Sunday said that his party will continue to raise the issues of corruption. He made the comment when reporters asked if Bihar minister Mewalal Choudhary’s resignation was a victory for him. “The mandate in the polls was for a change and everyone knew in which scam FIR was filed against Mewalal. Despite that, he won and was made Education Minister. I have been raising my voice before,” Yadav said.

However, the ruling JD(U) in Bihar has demanded that the RJD leader refrain from becoming the leader of the opposition since his name was involved in a number of corruption and criminal cases. The JD(U)’s demand came two days after party leader Mewalal Chaudhary resigned as the state’s education minister over a corruption taint.

Choudhary was among the 14 ministers who were sworn in on November 16 as part of Nitish Kumar’s new term as Bihar chief minister. However, he tendered his resignation barely hours after assuming charge as the Bihar education minister on Thursday. Opposition parties had been pulling the government and attacking Bihar chief minister for inducting Choudhary who was earlier expelled from the party in 2017 after an FIR was lodged against him in a corruption case.