BJP-JD(U) ruined Bihar's economy and social fabric in last 20 years: Congress

Patna, June 21 (IANS) Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP-JD(U) alliance in Bihar over “ruining” the state’s economy and social fabric in the last 20 years of their rule.

“The BJP-JD(U) alliance has ruined Bihar’s economy, governance, and social fabric during their 20-year rule. This has been clearly proven by the reports of the reputed global institutions. That’s why we’ve launched a campaign to expose how Bihar has suffered under Nitish Kumar’s leadership,” said Congress spokesperson Prem Chand Mishra while addressing a press conference in Patna.

As part of the campaign, Mishra cited a recent report by CARE Ratings, a global agency, which ranked Bihar last among 17 large Indian states on key development indicators.

“Bihar received just 34.8 points in the Social and Economic Development Index, scoring the lowest across parameters such as education, health, infrastructure, fiscal management, and economic activity,” Mishra said.

Based on the CARE Ratings Report, Mishra pointed out that Bihar ranks 17th out of 17 major states on social and economic development.

He said that poor performance in education quality, maternal and infant mortality rates, employment generation, weak scores on women empowerment, infrastructure, per capita income, alarming fiscal indicators, including debt management, interest payment ratio, fiscal deficit, severe deficiencies in electricity access, railway density, healthcare services, and school teacher ratios.

He also said that the weak judicial efficiency, e-governance, investment environment, and environmental metrics are also poor, including air quality and renewable energy adoption.

“Bihar is now behind even Rajasthan, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh — states it once competed with. The figures speak for themselves, and corruption and poor governance are to blame,” Mishra said.

He alleged that the government's much-publicised development narrative is hollow and lacks substance on the ground.

Mishra added that even the Union government data contradicts the NDA’s claims of progress.

“Bihar is in deep crisis, socially, economically, and administratively. The only way out is a change in government and a policy revolution,” he concluded.

This marks a major strategic move by the Congress to build a data-backed campaign against the NDA ahead of the Assembly elections.

With just four months to go, the party appears poised to corner the ruling alliance on its development record, particularly using central and global institutional reports as ammunition.

--IANS

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