Bihar unit president of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal on Monday came down heavily on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) run state government for ‘its failures to develop Bihar despite Central government support on every step’.
In a Facebook post, Sanjay Jaiswal charged the Nitish Kumar led government for failing to utilise and avail the various funds ‘graciously’ offered by the central government.
Citing the example of Raxual Airport which falls under his parliamentary constituency– West Champaran, Dr. Jaiswal said that though the proposed 250 crore for the project has been received in the Prime Minister’s package, the work is halted since the Bihar Government has not provided the additional land. Similarly, if we do not provide land to the PM’s Gati-Shakti scheme, it will be called a gimmick, Jaiswal wrote.
Taking a strong swipe at the state government, he suggested that bus stands and hotels can be developed through Public Private Partnership rather than pleasing the Bhawan Nirman Vibhag with such projects, adding that in any case building five star hotels is not a government job.
The latest round of spat between the two NDA allies triggered after JD (U) national president Lallan Singh raised the demand of Special Status for Bihar during discussion on the President’s address in parliament. BJP responded by fielding its Chapra MP Rajeev Pratap Rudy to counter the JD(U) demand. The two NDA allies are on loggerhead over the demand of Special status for the last few months.
Sanjay Jaiswal in the Facebook post quoted statistics to suggest that Bihar is getting more than enough of its share. “Maharashtra’s population is only one crore more than Bihar, yet Bihar gets Rs. 31000 crore more than Maharashtra from central resources. Bengal is also a backward state like Bihar, but Bihar gets 21000 crore more than that,” he wrote.
Refuting the charges, senior Janata Dal United leader and Rajya Sabha M.P. Vashisht Narayan Singh maintained, “BJP is an equal partner in government. It’s not run alone by JD (U). As far as industrialisation is concerned, Industry Minister Shahnawaz Hussain (Who is BJP leader) will be able to tell better. He himself has said that huge investments are in the pipeline.”
