Bihar polls: Chidambaram mocks BJP on 19 lakh-job promise
New Delhi: A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party promised 19 lakh jobs and free Covid vaccine in its manifesto for Bihar polls, the Congress attacked the BJP on Friday for being critical of the 10 lakh-job promise made by the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in a tweet: “After mocking the RJD for promising to create 10 lakh jobs, the NDA has promised to create 19 lakh jobs in Bihar if elected.
“I did not know that 19 was a smaller number than 10. I think I should go back to primary school,” he mocked the BJP.
Earlier on Thursday, Rahul Gandhi too hit out at the BJP on the free vaccine promise. He said this was an election gimmick and added to the false promises made by the BJP.
“GOI just announced India’s Covid access strategy. Kindly refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when will you get it, along with a hoard of false promises,” Rahul said in his tweet.
The Congress alleged that Bihar has been pushed into backwardness after more than 13 years of rule by the NDA and what they were promising was only a “Jumla”.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday while releasing the BJP manifesto: “As soon as a Covid-19 vaccine is available for production at a mass scale, every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto,” she said.
The party also promised to create as many as 19 lakh jobs for the youth of Bihar.
The saffron party has evolved a five-point formula for the development of the state, which includes a healthy society, self-dependent Bihar, educated Bihar, strong industry and strong agriculture with financially sound farmers and healthy rural-urban development.