Decades-long NDA govt burden on Bihar, should be scrapped like 15-year-old vehicles: Tejashwi

Patna, Mar 1 (PTI) RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday mocked the BJP-led NDA government in Bihar, asserting that time has come to change the two-decade-old dispensation, much like 15-year-old vehicles are banned in the state for spreading pollution.

Yadav also said that the state government has now become a “burden” on the people of Bihar.

“The 20-year-old NDA government in Bihar, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has now turned into a rickety vehicle. There is a ban on vehicles that are more than 15 years old across Bihar as they emit too much smoke, increase pollution and are harmful to the public.

“Therefore, why should the 20-year-old rickety NDA government be allowed to operate in the state? This government has become a burden on the people of Bihar… it must be changed,” the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly said in a post on X.

Yadav claimed that over the past 20 years, the Nitish Kumar-led government has spread the “deadly pollution of poverty, unemployment, corruption, crime and migration” in the state.

“The Nitish-BJP government of manipulation and flip-flops has ruined the lives of two generations in 20 years. The youth of Bihar have resolved to remove this dilapidated, sick and unreliable government, and bring a dispensation with new thinking, new vision, new zeal and a new direction – that is reliable and dedicated to providing jobs, employment and development,” he said in the post.

Kumar, also the JD(U) supremo, had snapped ties with the BJP in 2013, only to return four years later, after having shared power with the RJD between 2015 and 2017. In 2022, he again crossed over to the RJD-helmed ‘Mahagathbandhan’, but was back in the NDA last year.

Yadav’s comments come on a day the chief minister turned 74, with greetings pouring in from various leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

“Hearty birthday wishes to the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar ji. Under his leadership, the state has progressed on a new path of development. May God grant him a healthy and long life,” Modi said on X.

Shah, in another post, said: “Heartfelt birthday wishes to the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar ji. Under your leadership, Bihar has become synonymous with public welfare and good governance under the NDA. I pray for your excellent health and long life.”

Yadav also greeted Kumar with a birthday message on X.