Bihar polls: NDA releases manifesto, promises to build 'spiritual city', metro, airports

Patna: The NDAon Friday released its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls, promising jobs to one crore youth, making of one crore ‘Lakhpathi Didi’, metro train services in four more cities and seven international airports in the state, among others.

The manifesto was released at a press conference attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chirag Paswan, and leaders of alliance partners.

Goddess Sita’s birthplace to be made a ‘spiritual city’

They have also promised to develop ‘Punaura Dham Janki Mandir’, considered the birthplace of Goddess Sita in Sitamarhi district, as a world-class spiritual city.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had laid the foundation stone for the construction of a grand ‘Mata Janaki Temple’ at Punaura Dham in August.

The temple, to be spread over 67 acres of land, is being developed on the lines of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

“The NDA, if voted to power again after the assembly polls, will develop the sacred birthplace of Maa Janaki in Sitamarhi into a world-class spiritual city named ‘Sitapuram’,” the manifesto said.

The Bihar cabinet had on July 1 sanctioned Rs 882.87 crore for the integrated development of the temple complex. Out of Rs 882.87 crore, Rs 137 crore would be spent on the development of the old temple and the premises, while Rs 728 crore would be deployed for tourism-related development works, officials said.

According to them, Rs 16 crore would be spent on carrying out comprehensive maintenance for 10 years.

The Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) will implement the project.

The state government had constituted a nine-member trust christened as ‘Shree Janaki Janam Bhumi Punaura Dham Mandir Nyas Samiti’, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had, in June, unveiled the final design of the development of the ‘Mata Janaki Temple’.

The state government had also approved the appointment of a Noida-based private firm as the ‘design consultant’ for the development of a grand temple.

The private entity also served as the consultant for master planning and architectural services of the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

The beautification work for the Maa Janaki Kund will also be carried out there, the officials said. A separate ‘parikrama path’ around the temple, a ‘yagna’ mandap, museum, auditorium, cafeteria, sporting arena for children and ‘dharamshala’ will be developed at the temple complex.

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Seven expressways, 10 industrial parks, free quality education from KG to PG and Rs 2,000 aid per month for SC students pursuing higher education are some of the other features of the manifesto.

The NDA, if voted to power, will also set up a world-class medicity, one medical college in each district, free ration, free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh and 50 lakh more pucca houses, according to the 69-page manifesto of the ruling NDA.

“The NDA will provide more than 1 crore government jobs and employment opportunities, conduct a skill census to promote skill-based employment, and establish Mega Skill Centres in every district, which will be further developed into Global Skilling Centres,” Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said.

Under the Chief Minister Women Employment Scheme, financial assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh will be provided to women for prosperity and self-reliance, if the NDA is returned to power, he said.

One crore ‘Lakhpathi Didi’ will also be made by the NDA, and through the ‘Mission Crorepati’ initiative, we will work towards making identified women entrepreneurs become millionaires, according to the manifesto.

For the uplift of extremely backward classes (EBC), the NDA promised that it would provide Rs 10 lakh financial assistance to various professional groups belonging to the category.

‘Panchamrit’ guarantees for the poor are free ration, free treatment worth Rs 5 lakh, 50 lakh more pucca houses.

The NDA also promised that the financial assistance under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi will be increased from Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000 annually, aid for fishermen will be enhanced from Rs 4,500 to Rs 9,000 annually, and a minimum support price for all crops, the manifesto said.

Bihar Sports City and Centres of Excellence for sports in every division of the state will be opened, while one factory and 10 new industrial parks in every district will be set up, if the NDA is voted to power, the manifesto said.

It also promised 100 Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) parks and over 50,000 cottage industries, defence corridor and the opening of semiconductor manufacturing parks, etc.

In education sector, the NDA government promised residential schools for SC/ST students in every division, Rs 2,000 per month for SC/ST students studying in higher education institutions, up to Rs 10 lakh assistance for EBC category students, free quality education for children from poor families — from KG to PG, mid-day meals in schools and spending of Rs 5,000 crore on upgradation of important schools.

Seven expressways and the modernisation of 3,600 km of railway tracks have also been promised by the NDA in Bihar.

Congress slams NDA for short press conference, ‘not allowing Nitish to speak’

The Congress on Friday slammed NDA leaders for “not allowing” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to speak at the release of the ruling coalition’s manifesto for the state assembly polls, claiming it was “an insult to Bihar and Biharis”.

Talking to reporters here, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also claimed that the NDA’s manifesto release programme lasted only “26 seconds”, as the leaders were afraid of facing questions from journalists about their 20-year rule.

“The NDA’s manifesto is a string of lies. We will highlight this in our public rallies, and demand a report card of the 20 years of NDA rule,” Gehlot said.

The NDA leaders should have begun their press conference with the report card, he said.

(With inputs from PTI.)

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