Nitish Kumar welcomed Prime Minister Modi’s announcement in a late evening tweet.
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s extension of the free ration to Chhath Puja was hailed by Bihar’s ruling NDA as a boost to his chances in the next national election. While his deputy immediately tweeted his gratitude, chief minister Nitish Kumar welcomed the announcement last night in a tweet.
“I thank and express my gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for extending an additional 5 months of free ration to the poor while expanding Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” read Mr. Kumar’s tweet in Hindi.
Sushil Modi, who last week asked for the program to be extended for three months, said the center had already distributed food grains worth Rs 5,057 crores. With its latest announcement, the government will spend Rs 13,000 crore on food for the country’s poor 80 crore.
Although he denied any political motive in the announcement, the extension marker – which was the key announcement in the Prime Minister’s 20-minute speech to the nation yesterday – said it was tailor-made for Bihar. While Chhath Puja marks the last festival on the Hindu calendar, it is also the largest festival in Bihar.
To make sure Bihar residents don’t miss it, the Prime Minister tweeted the announcement in Bhojpuri and Maithili – as well as other regional languages.
NDA leaders in the state say that, feeling the anger of the migrants, the government also chose 31 state districts linked to the ballot to launch Prime Minister Garib Kalyan Rojgar Yojna, who will also provide jobs for the migrants. About 50,000 crore rupees will be spent in record time 125 days under the program.
The migrant crisis across the county after the closure was announced in March hit the Nitish Kumar government the hardest. Despite the greater number of migrants, the Nitish Kumar government was seen to do little for them.
Although the government has spent 8,500 crore rupees under various schemes, its controversial decisions – such as stopping special trains in March and refusing to pay migrants’ train journey home – have aroused much anger among voters.
With the upcoming legislative elections, the opposition also expressed the trauma of the migrants who, finding themselves unemployed, homeless and without food during the night of the imposition of the detention, had to hit the road. Often deprived of food and water, dodging police and state authorities after the borders were closed, many have not returned home.
The Center started rail service on May 1, more than a month after the closure was announced on March 25. For migrants, the challenge is then to find the price to return home.
In recent weeks, the opposition has repeatedly raised the issue, criticizing the prime minister for what he called his reluctance to recover the migrants. They also criticized him for not announcing a substantial package for migrants.
Kumar’s allies, the BJP and Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti party, argued that his image had taken precedence over the issue of migrants. The chief minister, who came to power after a series of irregularities between the Lalu Yadav and Rabari Devi governments, had been nicknamed Sushashan Babu.
Realizing that the exceptional ration will quell any anti-NDA sentiment, Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Yadav has changed lanes and made coronavirus tests and rising gas prices the main problems in cornering the Nitish Kumar government. In his tweets, Tejashwi Yadav of RJD, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, highlighted the two problems.
