Nitish Kumar Slams Tejashwi’s Job Creation Claims

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday criticized RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for claiming credit for job creation during their shared governance from August 2022 to January 2024.

Addressing a rally in Araria Lok Sabha constituency, Kumar said, “Nowadays some people keep making statements that here (Bihar), no recruitment used to take place and they had started doing recruitment. But I want to tell you that I made him (Tejashwi Yadav) understand that we decided to give 10 lakh jobs and we are working on it. And now when we deliver he takes credit and says he has done it.”

Significantly, in Jan 2024, Nitish Kumar reversed course by ending ties with the RJD and aligning with the NDA.

He underscored the collective efforts between BJP and Janata Dal (United) to ensure development in all fields since 2005 and said, “We made electricity, water and toilets reach every house… We are working to provide 10 lakh jobs. We provided jobs to 5 lakh people from 2005 to 2020… We decided we would give more than 10 lakh jobs after 2020. 4 lakh jobs are given after 2020, and we are working on 3 lakh more jobs.”

Araria will witness elections on May 7, with Pradeep Kumar Singh nominated by the BJP and Shahnawaz Alam fielded by the RJD.

All 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polling across seven phases. In 2019, the BJP-led NDA secured victory in 39 out of 40 seats, with the Congress clinching just one seat. Despite being a significant contender in the state, the RJD failed to secure any seats.

The Mahagathbandhan, comprising the RJD, Congress, and Left parties, recently declared that the RJD, its primary member, will contest 26 out of Bihar’s 40 Lok Sabha seats.

Within the NDA, the BJP and JD(U) will vie for 17 and 16 seats, respectively. Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will compete for five seats, while Jitan Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha will contest one seat each.