Both the JD(U) and the BJP in Bihar are currently facing the distressing scenario of some of their own leaders publicly debunking the alliance government’s claims of achievement in the past seven years.
While Uday Singh, a senior BJP MP representing the Purnea constituency, is set to take out a protest rally next week, Chhedi Paswan, a senior JD(U) legislator and former minister, on Friday said the Nitish Kumar-led government was corrupt. Even as both the parties have been trying unsuccessfully to persuade Mr Singh against holding his “vedna (distress) rally” scheduled for September 30, Mr Paswan’s comments at a public meeting came as an added shock.
A survey the two-term MP conducted in his poverty-ridden constituency in eastern Bihar found rampant corruption in the implementation of welfare schemes run by the Central and state governments. The survey, which claims to have taken into account 2.1 lakh homes, paints a very dark picture of ordinary people’s lives.
The 55-page survey report, already questioned by the JD(U), mentions that 82 per cent of the needy households are out of the BPL list and 72 per cent needy farmers have no KCC. It says only 25 per cent people have MNREGS cards and only 13 per cent of them actually got work.