Mahagathbandhan announces Tejashwi as CM's face, Mukesh Sahani as deputy
What's the story
The Mahagathbandhan opposition alliance has announced Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections. Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahani was announced as the deputy CM's face. The announcement was made at a joint press conference on Thursday, where leaders from the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress, and Left parties came together to show unity against the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Congress
Gehlot dares BJP
The announcement was made by Congress veteran Ashok Gehlot, who said the Mahagathbandhan had chosen Tejashwi because he is "young" and "committed." He then challenged BJP to follow suit. "We want to ask Amit Shah ji and the president...who is the CM face?" Referring to the Maharashtra election, he said, "We saw that the election was fought under the leadership of the then CM Eknath Shinde, but later we found out that someone else was chosen as the CM."
Criticism voiced
Gehlot slams NDA government for undermining democratic institutions
Also attending the conference, Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Ram emphasized the alliance's determination, saying, "The strength of the unity that Rahul Gandhi had emphasized with the INDIA alliance partners will be visible to everyone today." "We will come together and form a government under the INDIA alliance." Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya called the upcoming elections a defining moment for Bihar. He said, "This election is very important for all...youth who have been lathi-charged and all...women who were promised jobs."
Tejashwi
'The BJP will not make Nitish Kumar CM again'
When his turn came to speak, Tejashwi predicted that the BJP will not make Nitish Kumar the chief minister again. "The NDA has been in power for 20 consecutive years. You've always announced the Chief Ministerial candidate. Why aren't you announcing Nitish Kumar as the Chief Ministerial candidate this time?" he asked. He also confidently said if elected, his government will complete in 20 months what the NDA did not do in 20 years.
Promises
Poll promises
Tejashwi had previously promised government jobs to one member of families without a government job within 20 days if his party comes to power. On Wednesday, he also promised to make all Jeevika CM (community mobilizer) Didis permanent government employees. He said their salaries would be increased to ₹30,000 per month in addition to waiving interest on existing loans and providing interest-free loans for two years. Furthermore, he promised to make all contractual employees in Bihar permanent.