Bhagalpur: Election campaigning for the Bihar Assembly polls is in full swing, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is holding a series of rallies across the state. On Monday, he addressed three major public meetings in Bhagalpur district — at Teentanga in Gopalpur, Muktpur in Goradih, and Karhariya in Sultanganj. Speaking at his first rally in Teentanga, Nitish launched a strong attack on the previous government led by the RJD, calling it “useless” and blaming it for spreading Hindu-Muslim tension. He said, “The situation was very bad in the past. People wouldn’t leave their homes after dusk. Now, children, boys, and girls can move around freely.”
The Chief Minister said that his government had brought peace, law, and order to the state after years of chaos. “There were no roads, no schools, no hospitals, no electricity in those days. After our government came to power, we worked for everyone, without any discrimination,” Nitish told the crowd. He reminded people that his government had fenced graveyards to avoid disputes and even fenced Hindu temples older than 60 years to maintain peace among communities. “Whether Hindu or Muslim, we worked for all,” he said, stressing that his government’s focus had always been development and unity.
Nitish Kumar also spoke about his work for women’s empowerment. He said that women in Bihar have been given a strong role in decision-making. “We gave 50% reservation to women in Panchayati Raj institutions in 2006, 35% reservation in police in 2013, and 35% reservation in all government jobs in 2016,” he said. Nitish claimed that Bihar now has the highest number of women in the police force across India. He also spoke about the success of the Jeevika project, started with World Bank help in 2006, which has now connected 1.4 crore women through self-help groups, improving their income and living conditions.
On the issue of employment, Nitish said that his government had fulfilled its 2020 promise of creating 10 lakh jobs. “We have already created 10 lakh jobs and given employment to around 40–50 lakh people. Now our goal is to create one crore jobs in the next five years,” he announced. After addressing the rally in Bhagalpur, Nitish was scheduled to hold rallies in Dhoraiya in support of JDU candidate Manish Kumar and in Amarpur for candidate Jayant Raj.
A day earlier, on Sunday, Nitish Kumar held a rally in Munger, where he praised Deputy Chief Minister and Tarapur candidate Samrat Choudhary. “He does great work. Make him successful and promote him,” Nitish said, calling him a hardworking leader. He also addressed a rally in Begusarai for NDA’s LJP (R) candidate Surendra Vivek and strongly criticised the Lalu-Rabri regime. Nitish’s series of rallies and promises of large-scale job creation show that the JDU is campaigning hard to maintain its stronghold in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
