"Rahul Gandhi, Tejashwi Yadav Failed Experiments": Piyush Goyal To NDTV

Union Commerce Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal has challenged the bad notion attached to migration, which is believed to have robbed Bihar of its young workforce amid a lack of opportunities. But the situation is now changing, the BJP leader suggested, claiming that there is not much influx of the new generation of Biharis into other states.

"Migration out of the city is not always bad. If a person from Bihar goes to Japan, is it bad?" the minister said at NDTV's Bihar Power Play conclave less than a week before the Bihar elections. "People from Bihar are now becoming job creators. You have to see the unemployment rate in the context of the past employment rate. Today's youth are not moving out of Bihar, as resources are being created here," he added.

Goyal praised the double-engine government for this change, crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for ushering in development.

"The kind of infra that we have in Bihar now, no one would have imagined that in the past. No one would have thought that Patna would get a metro train. There used to be permanent chaos in Patna. There were railway tracks in the middle of the city centre. Now there are flyovers and other infrastructure development. Bihar is moving forward, and that is the basis for the manifesto," Goyal said.

Bihar today has 14 ethanol plants, and the Makhana Board has been launched, he pointed out, asserting that people must understand the concept of value addition.

"Today, there are opportunities in Bihar. There are highways and rural roads, and poor people are getting homes. These things bring opportunities and jobs. When there is infrastructure, it brings opportunity," said the union minister.

Goyal Slams Tejashwi, Rahul

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav are "symbols of failed experiments," the BJP leader said in response to the RJD leader's charge that the NDA has copied their manifesto. "Those who fail the exam keep crying all the time. The Mahagathbandhan is a failed experiment. Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are symbols of a failed experiment," he said.

Goyal also countered the Mahagathbandhan's promise of providing 2.5 crore jobs and cited budgetary constraints.

"We have promised one crore jobs. It includes government and private jobs. This is a practical promise and can be fulfilled. We have made a plan on how to get technological companies here and how we can create industrial parks here," he said.

Goyal On Crime Data

The Union Minister also differed with data showing a rise in crime cases in Bihar.

"In the past regime, if there was a crime, no one would dare to register an FIR. If you couldn't even register a case, what would the data say? But now the farmers' incomes have increased, women can venture out at dark without fear," he said.