‘Empty claims’: Chirag Paswan refutes Jan Suraj's ₹14,000 crore ‘World Bank funds diverted’ claim

Ahead of Bihar polls, 1.25 crore women voters received ₹10,000 under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana.

Published on: Nov 16, 2025, 15:02:05 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union Minister Chirag Paswan dismissed on Sunday the claims made by Jan Suraaj's spokesperson Pavan Varma about the central government “diverting” funds from World Bank for the Bihar Assembly elections.

Chirag Paswan said that if there is any proof of these allegations, they should be presented and the government will respond. (File/Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

While reacting to the allegations, Paswan questioned where Varma got his information from and labelled his claims as “empty”.

"Where do they get this data from, this information from?... Making empty claims - if you have any facts, present it and the Govt will respond," news agency ANI quoted Paswan as saying.

Track live updates of Bihar election news here.

What Pavan Varma said?

After not winning even a single seat in the 2025 Bihar assembly polls, Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj made a bold claim that the National Democratic Alliance diverted funds from the World Bank for the polls.

Also read: 'Filthy abuses, slipper thrown': Rohini Acharya's fresh claim after quitting RJD

In an interview with ANI, Jan Suraaj's spokesperson Pavan Verma alleged that the Centre pulled funds which were meant for another project from the World Bank and used them to districute money among women voters during the Bihar Assembly elections.

Ahead of Bihar polls, 1.25 crore women voters received ₹10,000 under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana.

Varma added that Bihar's public debt currently is around ₹4,06,000 crores and the interest per day on it is ₹63 crores.

“Just an hour before the model code of conduct was implemented, ₹14,000 crores were withdrawn and ₹10,000 each was allocated to 1.25 crore women…” Varma said.

“As I have said, this is our information. If it is wrong, I seek forgiveness. But if it is true, then the question arises as to how far this is ethical, ” he added.

Varma also claimed that there were rumours circulating in Bihar that the remaining amount would not be released if the NDA was not voted to power.

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HT News Desk
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