Tejashwi promises 1 crore jobs,

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday unveiled his party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 with a list of 24 commitments including 1 crore jobs to youths at national level, LPG gas cylinders at ₹500 across the country, a nationwide caste census, special package of ₹1.60 lakh crore to Bihar and five new airports in the state, if the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance( INDIA) comes to power at the Centre.
“In 2024 parliamentary polls, we have come up with 24 commitments,” Tejashwi said, addressing a press conference along with RJD state president Jagdanand Singh and other top leaders at the party’s state office.
He said the youths of the country can look for good days from August 15 this year as the process of generating 1 crore jobs for youths at the national level will start, if INDIA bloc government comes to power.
Asked whether it was an RJD manifesto or that of the INDIA bloc, Tejashwi said the document named ‘Parivartan Patra’ was being made by his party as a key constituent of the INDIA bloc, comprising of over 25 parties at the national level.
“The Congress has promised 30 lakh jobs in its manifesto. We are promising 1 crore jobs as we have done research on the potential of creating more vacancies in railways, armed forces and other government sectors at the national level. We are a key constituent of the INDIA bloc. In 2004, Dr Manmohan Singh was appointed as PM with our consent. We were the second largest party in the central government, “ he said, implying that the RJD would have a big say in implementing the party’s 24 commitments, if the INDIA bloc comes to power after Lok Sabha polls.
“From August 15, people will start getting freedom from unemployment. There are already 30 lakh vacancies at all India level, and we will generate another 70 lakh jobs for youths across India, if the opposition bloc comes to power. Unemployment is our biggest enemy. The BJP had promised 2 crore jobs every year, but it was not fulfilled. We are truthful people, and this is why we are making a realistic promise. We will fulfil our promise as we created 5 lakh jobs in the 17-month tenure of the Grand Alliance (GA) government in which I was the deputy chief minister,” he said.
He also said the INDIA bloc government, if voted to power, would provide ₹1 lakh as assistance per year to woman from poor families for empowerment across the country. “We will provide ₹1 lakh as assistance to our sisters belonging to poor families from this Rakha Bandhan, if our government comes to power,” he said.
He maintained that his party has the commitment to grant special status category to Bihar and a dedicated special package to Bihar of ₹1.60 lakh crore.
“This package would be exclusively for Bihar for its development and economic progress. By calculation, the package would enable provision of ₹4,000 crore to each of 40 parliamentary seats in Bihar,” Tejashwi said. He also asserted that his party and other allies in the INDIA bloc are committed to scrap the Agniveer scheme and would give status of martyr to all security personnel from central paramilitary forces, if they die on duty.
The RJD manifesto also promised to set upfive airports in Bihar at Purnea, Gopalganj, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Raxaul, which, Tejashwi said, would provide better air connectivety to people of the state and boost tourism.
“We will also provide 200 units of free electricity to consumers, provide LPG cylinders at ₹500 across India and also implement the old pension scheme (OPS) for government employees in state and central level. We will also implement the Swaminathan report for addressing farm issues and increase minimum support price (MSP) for farmers,” Tejashwi said.
“We will also conduct a nationwide caste survey, if voted to power,” he said adding that his party would ensure that reservation limit for backward classes would be enhanced to 65 percent in Bihar.
Congress spokesperson Anand Madhav said the RJD’s manifesto is tangible to his party’s manifesto in terms of many promises like generating jobs and scrapping of Agniveer scheme. “The Congress has promised generating 30 lakh jobs in the first year, if voted to power. The RJD has talked of generating 1 crore jobs and also scrapping of Agniveer scheme. The RJD manifesto is complimentary to the Congress manifesto,” he said.
Janata Dal-United (JD-U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the RJD was only contesting 23 seats in Bihar. “What is Yadav’s own status at the national level? This is all big talk and nothing else,” he said.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Bihar state president Samrat Choudhary, in a press interaction, said the RJD leader was only showing false dreams to youths. Deputy chief minister and BJP leader Vijay Kumar Sinha said, “The RJD’s top family is facing charges of taking land in liue of jobs. They are now planning to take more land against job promises.”
HAM(S) founder and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi took a jibe at the RJD, through a post on his official handle on X, saying that the big commitments were nothing but lofty promises. “The RJD manifesto had left certain things amiss. Like merging America with India, making sea water sweet, rise of Sun from the West and mountains will fly in the air,” Manjhi said in a sarcastic post.
JD(U) senior leader K C Taygi said there was no chance of any ‘parivartan” or change be it in Bihar or at the national level, no matter what the RJD claims. “Chief minister Nitish Kumar is running Bihar and PM Modi is running the country. It will remain the same. The RJD knows it is not going to get anything in this poll. So, they are making all sorts of promises. This is all a bundle of lies,” he said.