"Bihar's Per Capita Income Would Have More Than Doubled...": Finance Minister

The per capita income of the people of Bihar would have more than doubled had there been no misgovernance during the Lalu Yadav-led RJD government, Union finance minister and senior BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday, as she addresses a press conference in Patna during the Lok Sabha poll campaign.

Comparing Bihar with Odisha, another eastern Indian state considered economically weak, she said that the per capita income of Bihar (Rs 21,282) was higher than Odisha (Rs 20,591) in 1991.

During the next decade, Odisha's per capita income, she asserted, jumped by 31 per cent but for that Bihar's dropped by 32-33 per cent to Rs 14,209 through 2002.

Post 2002, Bihar's per capita grew, though at a steady rate of 5 per cent on average every year to Rs 37,000 by 2019.

"This improvement in per capita happened due to good governance and strong law and order," said Ms Sitharaman, referring to JDU rule, which is BJP's alliance partner.

"Without the misgovernance during the Lalu Yadav tenure, which is often termed as 'Jungle Raj', Ms Sitharaman said Bihar's per capita income would have risen to Rs 95,330 by 2019," the FM said.

"When Prime Minister speaks about Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas, that includes both samman and vikas (respect and development). When you didn't want development, your per capita income remained stagnant for a decade," she told reporters at the press conference.

Ms Sitharaman further said her government in New Delhi wants to make eastern Indian states the growth engine of the economy. She said the government is determined to make eastern India a growth engine for Viksit Bharat 2047.

Taking on Lalu Prasad Yadav's party RJD, she said that the BJP-led NDA government wants to bring development to the people of Bihar.

In Bihar, she said 1.16 lakh street vendors were given loans under Swanidhi Yojana. Most of the beneficiaries were from the weaker sections of the society, she said.

She further asserted that her government revived the Barauni fertiliser factory by investing Rs 9500 crore.

"In Bihar, no industry came to the state and the people of this state had to migrate to other regions. Congress had made a policy to send all minerals of Bihar to other states without giving royalty or revenue to Bihar," she said.

Meanwhile, the 40 seats in Bihar are undergoing polls in all seven phases. In 2019, BJP-led NDA swept the state by winning 39 out of 40 seats, while Congress won just one seat. RJD, once a formidable force in the state, failed to open its account.

This time, in Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance), the opposition coalition in Bihar, including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties; RJD, its largest constituent, is contesting on 26 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats, while Congress is contesting on nine seats. As part of the NDA; BJP and JD(U) are contesting on 17 and 16 seats respectively.

Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is contesting five seats, and Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) are contesting one seat each, respectively.

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