The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance secured a landslide victory in the Bihar Assembly election this week — winning a whopping 202 seats. The Mahagathbandhan secured a meagre 35 seats in the Opposition benches while the newly formed Jan Suraaj Party failed to open its account despite contesting nearly all of the 243 seats. Critics of the NDA have cited several potential factors to explain the stunning rout — including the use of a government scheme that allocated Rs 10,000 to poor women.
“The Prime Minister himself criticised the ‘Rewari’… And now what happened in Bihar?… Currently, Bihar’s public debt is approximately Rs 4,06,000 crores. Its daily interest is Rs 63 crores… We have information, which may be incorrect, that the Rs 21,000 crores came from the World Bank for some other project. Just an hour before the model code of conduct was implemented, Rs 14,000 crores were withdrawn and Rs 10,000 each was allocated to 1.25 crore women,” Jan Suraaj spokesperson Pavan Verma told ANI.
He questioned the ethics of such a move — echoing similar allegations levelled by other Opposition parties. The JSP spokesperson however insisted that the vote chori issue (championed vocally by the Congress) had lost its relevance after the Supreme Court declared Aadhaar Cards a valid document for voter identification.
“Then the question arises: how ethical is this?… It’s certainly possible governments can divert funds and later provide explanations after the elections. This doesn’t just apply to Bihar… There will be elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and BJP-ruled states. They can make promises and then hand over cash,” he added.
Varma hailed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as th ‘X’ factor behind the landslide NDA victory on Friday. He claimed that people did not want the “jungle raaj” to return and had therefore decided to consolidate “existing forces” to stop the RJD.
“I’m saying it again, we made mistakes too. Perhaps our ambition was too high for a new party, but our message was right. The response was very good,” he added.