"Lalu, Rabri Dragged Bihar Backwards, See Where It Is Today": Amit Shah Exclusive

Union home minister Amit Shah warned the people of Bihar again today about the return of "jungle raj" and commended the rule of Nitish Kumar, saying it brought the state out of the shadows and set it on the road to development. 

"Lalu, Rabri dragged Bihar backwards, see where it is today under Nitish Kumar," Amit Shah said in an exclusive interview with NDTV CEO and Editor-In-Chief Rahul Kanwal at the NDTV Bihar Power Play event. "I urge people of Bihar to vote carefully as if Mahagathbandhan returns, so will jungle raj," he added.

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Bihar, he said, is one of the "most politically aware states in the country" and over the last 20 years, the people have witnessed the progress of the state. "You can ask any young person and they would say that the law and order situation has improved in the state under Nitish regime and that has been the fundamental of progress," he said. 

Talking about the steps forward that Bihar has taken, he said, "Today, there are 4 bridges on the Ganga, 10 more are in the works. No one had imagined that this could every happen. In the past regime, the discussions were about robbery, murder and loot and today the discussion is about progress".

The NDA, he added, is planning massive strides in generating employment as well, planning one crore jobs. Here, he drew a fine difference between jobs and self-employment, saying the latter is the highway to ending migration.

Read: "We Promised Jobs, Rozgaar": Amit Shah Tears Into Mahagathbandhan Manifesto

"Employment can be created in multiple ways. Employment is different from jobs... If we need to reduce migration, we will have to create the opportunity of self-employment in Bihar itself," he said.  

As for the NDA, it is taking the highway by providing seed money to women, so they can begin their own businesses independently. 

Talking of the announcement that women will be given Rs 10,000 aid for women under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana announced in September, he called it "seed money". 

The women, he added, can get up to 2 lakh from the bank for self-employment. "This is under the PM Modi's Lakhpati Didi scheme. This is to give employment to Jeevika didis," he said.

As for Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tejashwi Yadav's scheme for creating "jobs", he said the state's budget will not be able to support it.

"Tejashwi has said they will give over 2 crore jobs. And Bihar's budget will not be able to accommodate it. It will have to be 4x to accommodate that promise," he added.