Tejashwai Yadav said that upcoming 'yatra' was nothing more than a farewell tour of Nitish Kumar.
Days ahead of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Pragati Yatra which will begin on December 23, Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly criticised the JD-U leader while calling the CM's proposed programme an "Alvida Yatra" (Farewell Tour).
Nitish Kumar is set to embark on the first phase of Pragati Yatra, scheduled to take place from December 23 to December 28.
Tejashwi Yadav pointed to Nitish Kumar's statement during the 2020 Assembly elections. He asserted that the Chief Minister had then claimed that it would be his "last election".
"This indicated that Nitish Kumar's tenure had come to an end, and the upcoming yatra was nothing more than a farewell tour," he said.
Tejashwi Yadav questioned the rationale behind the extravagant expense of the Pragati Yatra, which the state government was reportedly funding to the tune of Rs 225 crore for just 15 days.
He argued that such an expensive tour is unnecessary for a Chief Minister to meet the people of his own state.
The former Deputy Chief Minister said that "this expenditure is more about allowing government officers to loot the state treasury rather than genuinely engaging with the people".
Tejashwi Yadav said the Pragati Yatra is not a development or political outreach initiative but as a self-serving exercise, criticising the perceived waste of public funds and the political motivations behind the tour.
Reacting to the statements of Tejashwi Yadav, Samrat Choudhary, Bihar's Deputy Chief Minister, defended CM Nitish Kumar.
"Nitish Kumar has been regularly doing statewide tours or 'Yatras' over the past two decades. It is not a new political strategy to meet the people of Bihar," Choudhary said.
Besides, he also slammed Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family alleging his long-standing corruption and misgovernance in Bihar during his tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar and Union Minister.
As per the schedule of Pragati Yatra's first phase, Nitish Kumar will visit West Champaran (Bettiah) on December 23.
After staying overnight in Valmiki Nagar, will go to East Champaran (Motihari) on December 24.
As the Christmas Holiday is on December 25, there is no programme on that day.
He will visit Sheohar and Sitamarhi on December 26, he will visit Muzaffarpur on December 27 and on December 28, he will visit Vaishali and then return to Patna.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)