The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar is ramping up its assault against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls. “The coronavirus vaccine belongs to the entire nation, not just the BJP,” the RJD posted in Hindi from its official Twitter handle, “Using the issue of the vaccine as a political instrument shows they only know how to sell the fear of disease and death!”
The RJD added that Bihar knows its own dignity, and hence would not fall for the BJP’s promises and end up selling the future of its children over some amount of money.
Since one of the burning debates in the country is over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)-management and its vaccine, the issue seems apt for the RJD to target the saffron camp over.
Notably, this comes as a retaliation to the manifesto that the BJP released on Thursday for the three-phased Bihar elections. In it, the party promised that after the approval of the coronavirus vaccine from ICMR, every person in the state will get vaccinated free of cost.
“In the fight against coronavirus, the NDA government has set an example in the country. It is our resolution that as soon as the vaccine will be approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), every person in the State will be vaccinated," the manifesto said.
Union Finance Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman released the party’s manifesto.
"As soon as COVID-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto," Sitharaman said.
The senior BJP leader said that Bihar is one state where all citizens are politically sensitive and well informed.
"They know and understand the promises a party makes. If anyone raises questions on our manifesto, we can answer them with confidence as we fulfill what we promised," she added.
The election document was unveiled by Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and senior leaders Bhupender Yadav, Nityanand Rai, Ashwini Choubey, and Pramod Kumar. Union minister and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad and other BJP leaders were also present at the event.
The manifesto comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi hits the campaign trail. The BJP`s manifesto speaks about the Prime Minister`s vision of making ‘Atmanirbhar Bihar’.
Major political parties of Bihar are busy wooing voters and releasing manifesto for the Assembly polls which is going to be conducted in Bihar in three phases and counting will take place on November 10.
The BJP is contesting the Bihar election in alliance with Nitish Kumar`s Janata Dal (United). The JD(U) is contesting on 122 seats and BJP on 121 in the 243-member state Assembly.
The ‘Mahagathbandhan’ - an alliance of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Congress and Left parties has already released its manifesto.
The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) led by Chirag Paswan had released its manifesto on Wednesday for Bihar Assembly poll in Patna.
(With inputs from IANS)
