Bihar polls: Tejashwi Yadav promises govt job for every family

Ahead of next month’s Bihar Assembly elections, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday (October 9) promised that if the INDIA alliance helmed by his party comes to power, it will “bring an Act” to ensure every family in the state has a member with a government job.

He said the proposed Act will be brought "within 20 days of formation of the new government".

Tejashwi slams NDA govt

"The NDA could not provide jobs to the youth in 20 years. We will bring the Act within 20 days of coming to power, and implementation will be ensured in 20 months", Bihar’s former deputy chief minister said at a press conference in Patna.

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"I had promised government jobs in the last assembly polls as well. During my brief stint in power, five lakh jobs were provided. You can imagine what could be possible had I got a five-year term", said the 35-year-old leader.

Tejashwi, who is seen as the INDIA bloc's de facto chief ministerial candidate, has repeatedly described the Nitish Kumar government as a "copycat", noting that several populist measures in recent months appeared to have taken a cue from the RJD leader's earlier poll promises.

Nitish govt’s schemes

Vowing not to be outwitted, Tejashwi, who is often shown as the most preferred chief ministerial candidate in opinion polls, had earlier said he would speak more about his agenda for Bihar "only after polls are announced", and the ruling NDA was left constrained by the model code of conduct.

Also read: Battle before the battle: NDA, INDIA in hectic seat-sharing parleys as Bihar poll nears

Recently, the government has provided 125 units of free power per month for consumers, waived examination fees for candidates, introduced a "domicile quota" in seats reserved for women, and hiked social security pensions.

About a week ahead of the announcement of polls, the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana' was rolled out, as part of which Rs 10,000 each has been paid to more than one crore women of the state through direct cash transfer.

Tejashwi refuses to speak on other issues

The scheme, introduced to encourage entrepreneurship among women, has been decried by critics as an attempt to "bribe" voters ahead of elections.

Tejashwi, however, refused to take questions on the fluid political situation, with issues such as seat-sharing and the formal declaration of a chief ministerial candidate still pending.

"Today's press conference had been called to make just this one big announcement. If there are questions relating to this, I am ready to answer. For other issues, we will talk later", said Tejashwi.

Bihar Assembly elections will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11. The counting of votes is on November 14.