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Nitish visits Lalu’s home district, launches ₹316-cr projects
The chief minister inaugurated a road constructed on the Saran embankment, which is expected to ease the connectivity for the citizens of the district
On the fourth day of his ongoing Samriddhi Yatra, chief minister Nitish Kumar reached RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s home district, where he rolled out a fresh tranche of development works worth ₹316 crore through a series of inaugurations, including a road constructed on the Saran embankment and foundation stone laying in Gopalganj district, on Tuesday.
Addressing a gathering at Barauli, Kumar pilloried his predecessors, alleging that they had done “no meaningful work” during their tenure. “What was the situation in Bihar before 2005? There was frequent social unrest. People did not dare to step out of their homes after dusk,” Kumar said in a dig at Lalu Prasad’s CM tenures through 1990’s .
“There was no proper education system, no adequate medical facilities, and even basic road infrastructure was lacking,” he said, recalling the RJD rule in the state.
Yadav’s RJD was a breakaway faction of Janata Dal, floated in 1997. When Yadav was named in the Fodder Scam and had to go to jail, he relinquished reins of party and handed it to his wife Rabri Devi, who succeeded him as CM and remained in office till 2005.
The chief minister, however, promised a new momentum for Bihar during the current tenure. “After our government came to power, many works were undertaken. Several development initiatives were launched. Now, there are many projects in the pipeline that will elevate Bihar and place it among the leading states of the country,” he said.
The chief minister inaugurated a road constructed on the Saran embankment, which is expected to ease the connectivity for the citizens of the district. The road, built between BIS Nos. 80 and 120 kilometres, will provide a direct link to the Dumariya Bridge and the Sattar Ghat Bridge located on NH-27 passing through Gopalganj. This route will enable residents of Gopalganj to travel more easily to Hajipur, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali. The road is proposed to extend up to the Uttar Pradesh border linking Hajipur, said people familiar with the matter.
During this stay in Gopalganj, the CM sought information about announcements made during the Pragati Yatra. However, officials informed him that development works being carried out the district include the construction of the main approach road and internal roads in the Thawe temple premises and construction of a bypass road to connect the site identified for the development of the Kateya industrial area with the Vijaypur-Deoria road, besides the construction of the Mirganj bypass along with ROBs and bridges/culverts.
The chief minister also highlighted the ongoing development and beautification drive being undertaken famous Thawe Temple in the district, which had hit the headlines following the theft of jewellery from the temple.
In the meantime, the chief minister inaugurated seven infrastructure projects worth ₹135 crore and laid the foundation stone for 33 schemes valued at ₹181 crore through remote control, aggregating ₹316 crore.
Kumar also visited the Kisan Mela-cum-Agricultural Machinery Exhibition–2026 being held near the Saran embankment and inspected stalls put up by the departments of agriculture, water resources, sugarcane industry among others.
