Patna: Following the footsteps of slew of political parties specifically the South parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday dangled a range of freebies including Scooties, colour TVs, laptops and many more to lure voters in Bihar where five-phase Assembly elections are to be held from October 12. In a please-all vision document for Bihar, the BJP announced scooties for girl students who score well, colour TVs and laptops for the dalits and mahadalits – the most underprivileged of the population – and cheaper education loans.
Releasing the party’s vision document, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley slammed the Nitish-Kumar led ‘Grand Alliance’, saying it’s time to end the “jungle raj” in Bihar. “We need to rescue Bihar from backwardness. Congress, Janata Dal (United) and RJD have ruled Bihar for 68 years but have not done much for it. Our vision document is a charter for development,” Jaitley said.
In its vision document, the party promises Atal Medicine Centres, which would provide medicines at a discount, and plots for the landless. “Every girl child will go to school,” Jaitley said, adding that village councils that encouraged education for every girl above six would be rewarded.
The party promises cheaper loans for the technical and professional education of women and also says students who perform well in their Class 10 and 12 exams will be gifted a scooty according to merit. “Youths from Bihar move to other states looking for jobs. We want to bring an end to it,” Jaitley said.
Citing BJP’s development credentials, Mr Jaitley said, “Madhya Pradesh was among BIMARU states – there were no roads, no electricity. But we changed it in 15 years.”
Bihar will hold five-phase assembly elections from October 12. The results will be known on November 8.
