Bihar Assembly election: Chirag Paswan fires fresh salvo against Nitish Kumar - Hindustan Times
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Bihar Assembly election: Chirag Paswan fires fresh salvo against Nitish Kumar

Hindustan Times, Patna | By
Oct 22, 2020 07:55 AM IST

“Still talking of nali-gali {drains and lanes} and water to farms after 15 years in power is not going to serve any purpose,” Paswan said, referring to schemes introduced by Nitish Kumar to strengthen infrastructure. “Nali-gali is no yardstick of development.”

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan on Wednesday once again trained his guns on chief minister Nitish Kumar for “failing to develop the state at the same speed as other states have developed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned,” pursuing his campaign for the upcoming assembly elections.

Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan.(PTI)
Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) Chief Chirag Paswan.(PTI)

“Still talking of nali-gali {drains and lanes} and water to farms after 15 years in power is not going to serve any purpose,” Paswan said, referring to schemes introduced by Nitish Kumar to strengthen infrastructure. “Nali-gali is no yardstick of development.”

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These are basic requirements, which should have been put in place a long time ago, he said, adding: “If Nitish Kumar wins, Bihar will lose”.

The LJP has pulled out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and is contesting the October 28, November 3 and November 7 elections on its own, citing ideological differences with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United), or JD (U). LJP is contesting 137 seats in the 243-member assembly and has fielded candidates, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebels, in all the seats being fought by the JD (U ).

Also Read | After Bihar Assembly Election 2020, another reshuffle in Congress on the cards

After releasing the “Bihar 1st, Bihari 1st” vision document in Patna, Paswan started his election campaign from Paliganj, where rebel BJP candidate Usha Vidyarthi is in the fray on an LJP ticket. He then visited Jehanabad, Atri (Gaya) and Nawada by helicopter. In Paliganj, he also held a roadshow attended by a large number of people.

Vidyarthi had won the seat in 2010, but the party did not field her in 2015. She had lost to a Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), or CPI-ML candidate in 2005. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) import Jai Vardhan Yadav is the JD-U candidate in Paliganj; The Grand Alliance comprising the RJD, Congress and Left parties have again fielded a CPI-ML candidate.

Paswan said that despite being young, he was contesting the elections without caring about the outcome. “If Nitish Kumar has confidence in his work, he should also have the courage to contest election on his own,” he said, adding: “There is huge anger against the chief minister, but I give credit to the BJP for sticking to its words, for having once announced Nitish Kumar as the CM candidate and backing him despite knowing everything.”

Also Read | ‘Lalu zindabad’ slogans raised at Nitish Kumar’s rally. He loses his cool

Bihar being an agricultural state, delivery of water to every farm is something that should have been a priority of the government from day one of its 15-year rule; it should not have take so long, Paswan said. Similarly, he said, migration was the biggest issue in the state and it was apparent during the pandemic, but the state has no plan to check it.

“The CM has no plans for youth. He says not everyone can get government jobs, while the government has not been able to bring industries to the state on the pretext that Bihar is a landlocked state. Many states are landlocked, but they have generated employment through industrialization and have developed much faster,” he added.

He said that the vision document of the LJP was aimed at giving the state new hope and a promise to the young of a better future.

“It caters to all the aspects and has been developed by experts with suggestions from over 400,000 people. My later father, Ram Vilas Paswan, also contributed to it through his invaluable suggestions even from the hospital bed,” he added.

Chirag said that it was high time Bihar moved away from vote-bank and appeasement politics just to form government. “It is the caste equation that becomes the guiding force in elections. Bihar CM also abets casteism by playing divide-and-rule. Bihar needs a progressive government, which can focus on health and education. It needs a government that can take the state on the path of progress reflected through smiling faces,” he added.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Arun Kumar is Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times. He has spent two-and-half decades covering Bihar, including politics, educational and social issues.

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