How BJP Plans to Counter Nitish Kumar's Development Agenda in Bihar

New Delhi: BJP will counter Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's development plank by using findings of a party affiliated think tank on the state's poor socio-economic parameters after the BJP and Janata Dal (United) parted ways in 2013, said sources. This is likely to intensify the election campaign in the high-stakes assembly elections starting next month.

According to the research, the report of the Economic Survey of Bihar shows that the agriculture GDP in the state, declined by 11.58 per cent in 2013-14 when compared to the previous year of 2012-13. The overall economic growth fell from 15 per cent to nine per cent during the same period.

The research has been done by Public Policy Research Centre, headed by BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe.

The BJP also plans to target Mr Kumar's claims of good governance over the deteriorating law and order situation. According to the research, the total number of kidnapping cases going up from 4,737 to 6,570, number of rape cases increased by 22 per cent, and crime cases went up by almost 19 per cent during the period.

Both the BJP led National Democratic Alliance, and the grand alliance of Mr Kumar's JD(U), Lalu Prasad's  Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Congress have made development as the main theme of their campaign.

The grand alliance has highlighted the state's development during Mr Kumar's nearly 10-year term, while BJP claims the state has fallen behind after the BJP-JD(U) combine split two years ago.

In its conclusion, the research says, "Year 2013 marked a significant change in the politics of Bihar. With the forced exit of BJP from alliance, the government headed by Nitish Kumar, the quality of governance suffered the most. Politics of Bihar changed from politics of performance to the politics of populism."

The research is likely to be released by the BJP soon, and is expected to give a lot of talking points against the grand alliance, said sources.