Patna, April 1 (IANS) After Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s attack on RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav during a rally in Gopalganj, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Yadav hit back, demanding the disclosure of financial aid given to Bihar and Gujarat under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure at the Centre.

Speaking at the RJD office in Patna on Tuesday, Tejashwi challenged HM Shah to a public debate on any Bihar-related issue.

“Amit Shah claims that no work was done during the RJD’s rule. I challenge him to reveal the data on how much financial aid was given to Gujarat versus Bihar in the last 11 years,” Tejashwi said.

LoP Tejashwi also slammed the BJP’s promise to reopen Bihar’s sugar mills and make the state flood-free if given five more years in power.

“The BJP has been in power in Bihar for 20 years. Why didn’t they reopen the sugar mills or control flooding earlier? Were they sleeping all these years?” he questioned.

Defending his father Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure as Union Railway Minister, Tejashwi Yadav highlighted that four new railway facilities were brought to Bihar and Indian Railways earned Rs 90,000 crore profit under Lalu’s leadership then.

Tejashwi Yadav also pointed out his own achievements and said during his 17-month tenure as Bihar’s Deputy CM, 5 lakh government jobs were given and he also approved 3.5 lakh more jobs before leaving office.

Tejashwi Yadav claimed that he launched IT, tourism, and sports policies, that are now being copied by the NDA government in Bihar.

“I had sanctioned 20 STPs, 4 medical colleges, and 65 per cent reservation in various sectors and fired 700 doctors for negligence in government hospitals,” he claimed.

“I want HM Shah to name even one major achievement the BJP brought to Bihar in the last 11 years. Just one!” Yadav asked.

Tejashwi Yadav cited Bihar’s lack of development despite the state sending a maximum number of MPs to the Centre.

He accused BJP leaders of using development promises only for elections, claiming they have done nothing in the last 20 years.

“If they couldn’t develop Bihar in 20 years, how can they do it in 5 years? Their announcements will just be declared ‘jumlas’ after elections,” he said.

Slamming the BJP’s ‘pariwarvad (dynastic politics)’ rhetoric, Tejashwi questioned why Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi were not targeted the way BJP targets Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“If dynastic politics is bad, why don’t they talk about Paswan and Manjhi? Are they not part of the same system?” he asked.

Tejashwi challenged HM Shah, accusing him of making false claims when visiting Bihar. “If you target us, we will give a befitting reply,” he said.

Countering the BJP’s “Jungle Raj” narrative, Tejashwi cited the National Crime Records Bureau data, claiming Bihar’s crime rate under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s NDA rule has been alarming.

“As many as 65,000 murders and 25,000 rapes happened in 20 years. If this is not ‘Jungle Raj’, then what is? Under NDA, Bihar ranks highest in crime, corruption, migration, and unemployment while being at the bottom in development according to NITI Aayog reports,” Tejashwi said.

Tejashwi called the Waqf (Amendment) Bill an attack on minorities, warning that it could set a dangerous precedent.

“If the Waqf Bill is passed in Parliament, they will first target Muslims, then Christians, then Sikhs. This Bill is completely unconstitutional!” Tejashwi said.

–IANS

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