Patna: Election promises are flying thick and fast in Bihar.
Nine days before the first phase of voting for the state’s Assembly polls, Opposition alliance Mahagathbandhan (MGB) launched its manifesto through chief ministerial face Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.
Named Bihar Ka Tejashwi Pran (Bihar’s Tejashwi Resolve), the manifesto has been positioned as a “vision document” to transform the state into India’s top performer.
Its most striking features are the promise of one government job per family within 20 days of forming government (if it wins); permanent status and interest waivers for Jeevika didis (self-help group women) and contractual workers within 20 months; new law to curb paper leaks in exams.
MGB has also committed monthly financial aid under ‘Mai-Behen Yojana’ for women; subsidised LPG cylinders and free electricity up to 200 units per household; exemption of ‘toddy’ (local liquor) from anti-liquor laws to boost rural economies.
Other promises include removal of the 50% reservation cap to include more backward classes, dalits and tribals; universal healthcare coverage and farmer support with minimum support prices covering input costs; strict measures to make Bihar crime-free, including enhanced policing and anti-communal initiatives; scrapping the Waqf Amendment Act if it encroaches on state’s rights; industrial incentives to halt youth exodus; focus on education, medicine, and farmer rewards to restore “Bihar’s self-respect.”
Besides RJD chief Tejashwi, representatives of key alliance partners Congress (Pawan Khera), Vikassheel Insaan Party (Mukesh Sahani) and CPI-ML (Dipankar Bhattacharya) were present at the manifesto launch event.
Hundreds of supporters and party workers cheered for Tejashwi and raised slogans for the alliance.
Tejashwi described the 30-page manifesto as his personal ‘pran patra’, outlining a five-year blueprint to address unemployment, migration, and lawlessness.
“I will fulfill them (Pran), even if it requires sacrificing my life (Praan),” the former deputy CM said.
“We are not just promising, we have a roadmap to make Bihar number one. The NDA must reveal their CM face and vision — stop the negativity,” Tejashwi said, urging voters to back the MGB for a “crime-free and prosperous” state.
