Nitish Kumar calls budget “progressive”; Tejashwi Yadav says it lacked revival plan

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday called the budget “progressive” even as the leader of the opposition in the state Tejashwi Yadav said it was a “let down”.

The statement comes on the day when Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced major announcements for Bihar while presenting the budget.

“I have continuously spoken for this (special status), I told them as well (NDA). I told them to give us either a special status or a special package. As a follow-up, they have announced aid for a lot of things. We were speaking of special status and a lot of people said that the provision for special status has been done away with much earlier. So, instead of that, aid should be given to help Bihar. They have now started it,” Nitish said.

Meanwhile Yadav said that the budget lacked a revival plan for the state which was in dire need of a special status and a special package.

The Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD) leader, who is also a former state deputy CM, added, “The Centre must not insult the people of Bihar by presenting routine outlays as something out of the ordinary. We shall not retract, even by an inch, on the demand for special status which is required to eradicate backwardness of the state from where young people are forced to migrate in search of a better future.”

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Commenting on the budget, former Bihar chief minister and RJD leader Rabri Devi said the announcement of ₹26,000 crore of support allocated to Bihar for the development of projects, including road connectivity and infrastructure, was a “jhunjhuna (toy).”

“The flood situation displaced so many people, many lost their homes and precious belongings in the floodwaters after the rain. Murders and thefts are happening in the state. Labourers are not getting their wages. Youth are not getting employment and farmer issues persist,” said Devi.

“Farmers’ fertilisers and seeds should be made cheaper, and inflation should be stopped. The costs of petrol and diesel are high and farmers don’t even get electricity. ₹26,000 crore allotted to Bihar is a ‘jhunjhuna,” said the RJD leader.

Bihar deputy chief minister and state BJP president Samrat Choudhary, who also holds the finance portfolio, showered praise on the central government.

“It is a historic budget for which PM Modi deserves praise. The state will see expressways, new power plants and a medical college. Every aspect, including flood control and development of tourism, have been taken care of,” Choudhary told media persons.

Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Sinha praised the budget announcement and called it “very good”.

“The budget was the PM’s gift for Bihar, and it had something for everyone, as Bihar would get expressway, besides improving irrigation facilities and mitigating flood. He said the budget would speed up the pace of development, help promote industrial growth and generate employment, and help Bihar become a developed state”, he said.

Industry bodies’ across the state also heaped praises on the budget.

Bihar Industries Association president KPS Keshri called it a developmental budget. He said the budget was commendable from Bihar’s point of view, as it would boost the state’s infrastructure.

President of Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Industries Subhash Patowari thanked the central government for the schemes announced to boost infrastructure and irrigation facilities, besides mitigating the miseries of perennial floods in north Bihar.

President of Bihar Motor Transport Federation, Uday Shankar Singh said the special package given to Bihar should be implemented properly so that there was an all round development in all sectors.

“The special package should be implemented in the right manner with all stakeholders getting benefit of it. It would only help the faster development of the state,” he said.