
“What kind of situation has been created (lawlessness in Bihar)? Just keep blaming others. They feel someone else’s rule—the rule of the poor—was ‘jungle raj’. These people have done such things, they made laws to release certain criminals and give them parole,” he said.
The RJD leader further said his father and party president Lalu Prasad brought social justice and social transformation in Bihar. “And those who didn’t like social justice, didn’t like the social transformation, didn’t like the rule of the poor—they started this kind of propaganda.”
He said opposition parties used to get good media space during the RJD rule, and news about them would get printed on front pages. “Now, forget the front page, it’s nowhere to be seen. This is the situation now. This is the fear.”
“If you want to compare jungle raj and crime, do it through data. You’ll see that since 2005, crimes have only gone up. And now, it’s going from bad to worse. You will not see their any leader visiting the families of the victims anywhere. Nor can they bring them justice,” he said.
The ‘jungle raj’ jibe against the RJD was at the core the BJP’s poll pitch during the 2020 elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi cornering the party over the issue of law and order at a number of rallies.
Yadav said this shows the BJP-JDU did nothing during their long years in power that they can talk about.
“In every election for the last 20 years—look at 2005 and 2010 too—they’ve been crying about this. We are the single largest party. We have the trust of the people of Bihar. The public wants to know what you (BJP-JDU) did in 20 years of governance,” he said.
“Earlier governments were punished by the people. They were removed from power. But this is now your accountability. You should be telling what you’ve done in 20 years,” the RJD leader said.
Tejashwi said the NDA has been the longest ruling alliance in the state, with Nitish being the chief minister for the longest time. “Bihar is asking…you got 20 years in Bihar under the NDA, with 11 years with Narendra Modiji at the Centre. Still, NITI Aayog’s report says Bihar is the poorest, with the highest unemployment rate, highest migration, worst in education and healthcare, law and order (has gone) from bad to worse. No factories, nothing. What have you done?
“If you have no achievements, your only option is to blame others, blame past governments. But now the public is wise. The people of Bihar understand everything. And in the coming time, they will teach these people a lesson,” he added.
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‘Gyaan aur shiksha’
Responding to Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor’s statement on his educational background, Yadav said a lot of people make accusations. “So and so passed, so and so passed. They raise questions about my education.”
“Gyaan aur shiksha alag cheez hai. (Wisdom and education are different things). We were the ones who made the IT (Information Technology) policy. We were the ones who brought in the tourism policy. So much work was done. We were the ones who did it, right?”
“Nitishji is an engineer, right? He couldn’t give jobs to people. Tejashwi came, and jobs were given. Then IT policy, we were the ones who made it,” he argued, and then went on to cite several prominent political and business leaders—past and present—who, he said, did not have formal educational qualifications.
“Kamaraj—how educated was he? How educated was Dhirubhai Ambani? What kind of empire did he build? How educated was Steve Jobs? How educated is Mark Zuckerberg? They worked, didn’t they? They built empires, right? So I’m saying, just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you’ve attained full knowledge. Policies are made by looking at what is happening at the ground, what people need. Obviously, if the crime rate is rising, you will do something to control it. If quality education isn’t available, you will find a way to improve it,” he said.
Taking a dig at Kishor, the RJD leader said one does not need to be rocket scientist to build a better Bihar but someone who has a vision for the state.
“So for this, you don’t need to be a big scientist. If people are suffering, you can see that. If someone is hungry, sometimes even an illiterate person will call you and feed you, right? So, he knows how to satisfy hunger. For that, you don’t need to study rocket science. People say such things…”.
When asked if he thinks Nitish Kumar would be the chief minister again if the NDA wins the elections, Tejashwi said, “This has already been clearly stated by Amit Shahji —that they will carry him till the election. After the election, time will tell who will be the CM. So that’s been made clear.”
Lambasting the NDA government in Bihar, the former deputy chief minister said that as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRD) data, crimes have been increasing continuously in Bihar since 2005. “And now I can say that there is nothing left of what is called government here. The chief minister is indifferent (achet). The home department is with him,” he said.
“Yesterday, the police’s own ADG and DGP gave a statement that it’s monsoon, so crimes increase because of that. I have never heard such logic that criminals choose to act based on weather—monsoon, cold or summer. Such absurd and childish statements are being given by their own officers, the police officers. There’s no one to watch or listen to in this state because the CM is completely indifferent. Now the government is being run from Delhi,” he claimed.
Tejashwi said there is not a single day in Bihar when 200 rounds of bullets are not fired. “If we talk about today, more than five murders have happened across Bihar. That was until 12 noon. It could have already been more. People are living in fear. There’s a sense of insecurity in people’s minds. They are not feeling safe,” he said.
The RJD leader said businesspersons, lawyers, shopkeepers, doctors, professors are being murdered in broad daylight. “People are being shot inside their homes, inside shops, inside hospitals, in colleges. This is the situation in Bihar now. But no criminal is being caught,” he said, referring to some of the recent incidents.
“Right now, the place where we are having this interview—just behind this wall —four rounds were fired, but the criminal has not been caught yet. And this is considered Bihar’s most secured area. We are just next to the CM house, governor house, judge sahab’s house, development commissioner’s house and ministers’ house. If bullets are being fired in such areas and the criminal is still not caught, then you can understand what the state of Bihar is. That means law and order has become a criminal disorder. And here, criminals have triumphed. Criminals have become emperors.”
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The AIMIM question
Asked about the possibility of an alliance with the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM for the Bihar elections due later this year, Tejashwi said he has not received a proposal directly from the party. He further said that rather than contesting the elections, the AIMIM should work towards strengthening the “secular vote”.
“In our party and alliance, there are other partners in the INDIA bloc who want to join. We contest elections only in Bihar and Jharkhand. We don’t contest elections in Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh or Uttar Pradesh. Now parties like the NCP want to come into our alliance. The JMM also wants to come. Parasji’s party also wants to join. Already, six parties are there,” he said.
“Anyway, we have not personally received such a proposal (from the AIMIM). Whatever is in the news, whatever they’re saying, if they want to come, how many people will we take? How many people will we distribute seats to? Isn’t it better that we make sacrifices by not contesting in other states, so that the secular vote remains strong?” he said.
“I’m not going to Hyderabad to fight. I have never gone. Otherwise, we could even go there and create nuisance. This should not happen, right? We are the biggest party in Bihar. So shouldn’t you strengthen us? And we’re not even asking you for a share in Hyderabad,” the MLA added.
Commenting on the seat-sharing formula with the Congress, the RJD leader said discussions are on and it will be finalised soon. “We are comfortable contesting the maximum number of seats. There is no problem.”
Terming the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar an “eyewash”, he questioned its timing. “Who wants fake voters? But it is with these very fake voters that they have conducted all elections.”
He said no official data has even been compiled, yet somehow it is being concluded that Bangladeshis and Nepalis are voting in Bihar. He said the job of the Election Commission is to conduct free and fair elections and not decide citizenship. “That’s the duty of the Government of India, of the home ministry.”
The RJD leader raised four major concerns regarding the entire exercise—the timing, the lack of consultation with political parties, the demand for documents which many won’t have, and giving just 25 days for migrants to return and submit their documents.
“From 2005 till now, it has been the NDA government (in Bihar)… if fake voters came under your watch, then whose fault is it? They should then apologise,” he said.
He also questioned the “lack of transparency” in the entire process, and hinted the voter revision exercise could be part of a conspiracy.
“We have all the data—which booths we are strong in, which ones we are weak in. Obviously the BJP also has it. So, there is definitely a conspiracy— whose votes will be deleted and whose won’t. That is why we demanded today—we’ve asked the Election Commission—if you are deleting names, anyone’s names, then release the entire list. We will verify,” he said.
“If you’re deleting names, then what’s the problem in showing them? We also want to know which names were fake. Everyone should know. If you don’t show them, and later they get added again—what’s the guarantee? And we will verify also. But the Election Commission… all the demands we made earlier, the legitimate ones, they have (the EC) done nothing so far regarding them,” he said.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tejashwi said he only visits the state to make announcements but nothing concrete happens in Bihar. “There’s a huge gap between what they say and what they do. They come to take votes, but they don’t visit any victims. The prime minister won’t speak on how to ensure the safety of the people of Bihar,” he added.
“The damad (sons-in-law) alliance that they have, the NDA stands for National Damad Alliance. All the commissions are filled with family members of these leaders. 50 percent of their ministers are from political families. They will not discuss Ram Vilas, or Chirag Paswanji’s family, nor Jitan Ramji’s family, nor Samrat Chaudhary’s family. But they will abuse Laluji, abuse Tejashwi,’ he alleged.
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)
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