Congress questions Modi’s unfulfilled promises in Bihar

PTI, May 21, 2024, 1:24 PM IST

The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his promise of a transformative package for Bihar, saying that while he talked about changing the face and fate of the state, all that had changed was Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s alliances.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also posed several questions to the prime minister ahead of his rallies in Bihar. ”Why has the outgoing PM failed to reopen the Motihari Sugar Mill? Why were ambulances purchased using a BJP MP’s funds caught smuggling alcohol? What happened to the 1.25 lakh crore package the PM had promised in 2015?” Ramesh said in a post on X.

Elaborating on what he said were ”jumla details,” he said, ”It has been 10 years since the outgoing PM promised that his government would reopen the Motihari Sugar Mill during his 2014 campaign. He had explicitly stated that he would come back to Motihari, and drink chai made with sugar from the long-defunct mill. Maybe this is why he has not gone back in 10 years.” ”Today, when he goes back to Motihari, the people will demand answers. More than 300 former mill workers are still waiting to receive their pending salaries and pensions. The closure of the mill has also triggered a steady decline in Motihari’s economy,” Ramesh said.

Now, sitting BJP MP Radha Mohan Singh claims that the outgoing PM never made any such promises, he said. Till when the BJP would deceive the people of Motihari, Ramesh asked.

”Will the outgoing PM apologise for his failures before he leaves office on June 4th?” he asked.

Ramesh said that in 2019, the BJP MP from Saran was lauded for using his MP funds to sanction 60 ambulances in his constituency. ”At the peak of the COVID crisis in 2021, however, these ambulances were found to be sitting idle while nearby hospitals faced acute shortages. Then, last September, one of these ambulances was caught smuggling liquor. In 2021, when Congress leader Pappu Yadav exposed the misuse of the ambulances, he was thrown in jail for a 32-year-old case,” Ramesh said.

”Can the outgoing PM tell us what his MP is trying to hide? Why has the BJP government refused to investigate this case?” he said.

”At a rally leading up to Assembly Elections in 2015, PM Modi had declared ‘I am here today to honour my promise… how much do you want? Rs 50,000 crore, 60,000, 70,000, 75,000, 80,000? I am announcing a package of ₹ 1.25 lakh crore,’ to which his new old ally and then CM Nitish Kumar had responded, ‘was he bidding for Bihar?’ In either case, only Rs 27,000 crore was sanctioned by 2017, after which no updates have been provided on the ‘transformative’ package,” Ramesh claimed.

While the PM had promised to change the ‘face and fate’ of Bihar, all that has changed is Nitish Kumar’s alliances, he said, and added that Bihar’s youth remains unemployed and the state continues to lag behind on most development indicators.

”Can the outgoing PM tell us where the remaining Rs 1 lakh crore has disappeared? Is this just another feather in the hat of the Bharatiya Jumla Party?” Ramesh said.