Claims of Bihar’s marching growth asserted by the state’s workaholic chief minister Nitish Kumar have failed to convince his arch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, who on Sunday said Kumar’s promises of making Bihar a developed state by 2015 might remain a dream only.
A sceptical Yadav, a former chief minister who heads the Bihar’s main Opposition party RJD, said continuing poor growth in agriculture and absence of industries in the state would hamper any long-term growth plans. Breaking his silence on the NDA government’s performance for the first time since the Assembly polls last year, in which the RJD suffered a crushing defeat, Mr Yadav said the development visible in Bihar today was due to the implementation of welfare schemes sponsored by the Centre.
“Very poor growth of agriculture has now put Bihar at the 20th rank among the states in terms of agriculture growth. Employment opportunities in the state have shrunk due to lack of industrial growth, and people still migrate outside for work. How can the NDA government promise to make Bihar a developed state by 2015?” asked Yadav while addressing a function to mark the 634th birth anniversary of spiritual leader Sant Ravidas in Patna. Despite Bihar’s projected economic growth rate of 10.05 per cent in 2010-11, the agriculture sector’s contribution to the state domestic product has fallen to 19 per cent from the 26 per cent in 2004-05.