The just-released annual report card of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar is just “old wine in new bottle” and far from the grim ground realities of State, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) said on Tuesday.
The Opposition Party released its annual “people’s charge-sheet” countering the official tale of good governance and development initiatives alleging that many of the tall claims made by the government remained on paper.
“There is nothing new in the report card, when you compare it with the previous report cards. The same claims have been repeated. Like Goebbels said, the government thinks if it keeps repeating its lie it will become the truth,” Opposition leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui told a press conference.
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According to the RJD charge-sheet, while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government patted its back over convicting 65,000 criminals during its term, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has put Bihar at the bottom in conviction rate.
“The NCRB also says that 10 per cent of the violent crimes in the country are committed in Bihar.” Referring to an article in The Hindu , the party said under Mr. Kumar’s regime, the “respect and honour of women is under threat.”
Terming the ruling dispensation “insensitive”, RJD leaders said every time any tragic incident took place the government only announced probes, which were “a farce.”
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“The Judicial Enquiry Commission set up to probe the Kosi floods perhaps visited Patna on five occasions and met the victims only once. The victims of police firing in the Forbesganj incident have not got any compensation. As for the Chhath puja tragedy, Mr. Kumar immediately washed his hands of, saying he was in Pakistan,” Mr. Siddiqui said.
The RJD accused the government of hypocrisy for its liquor policy and alleged a nexus between the “liquor mafia” and the administration that was preventing the use of holograms in bottles to check bootlegging.