'Bihari itna aage hai toh Bihar itna pichhe kyon', asks Chirag Paswan

New Delhi: Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has asked the Bihar government to set a precedent by taking stringent action in cases of crime and the recent spate of bridge collapses, asserting that the state needs a vision to move up the development ladder.

Once a sharp critic of Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar before both allied with the BJP, Paswan said the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will fight the next assembly elections under Kumar's leadership but flagged a host of issues which, he suggested, has stymied the state's growth.

The assembly elections in Bihar are due to be held in 2025-end. "Bihari itna aage hai to Bihar itna pichhe kyon? (If Biharis are doing so well, then why is Bihar so behind?) We need to find an answer to this question," Paswan told PTI, highlighting how people from the state in different fields, from elite government jobs to the private sector, have done well after migrating.

"The problem is that a vision needs to be there and it needs to be implemented," he said, stressing that efforts should be made to stop migration from the state.

Ahead of the Union budget presentation on July 23, Paswan said he supported the demand for special category status for Bihar.

However, he noted that the NITI Aayog's recommendations go against granting the demand and said an alternative like a special package should be given to the state.

Asked about the collapse of nearly 15 bridges in Bihar in recent months, a development which raised questions about the quality of development work and made the state a magnet for jokes and memes on social media, Paswan said it is a serious issue.

"This definitely shows that somewhere corruption has taken place. Compromises were made. I don't want to get into the politics of who was in the government then. We are in the government now. It is our responsibility to make sure this does not get repeated. Whosoever is responsible should be held accountable and punished so that a precedent is set for the future," he said.

Asked about his change of stand on Kumar, he said if he is part of an alliance, then he needs to be there wholeheartedly. "I can't be part of an alliance and have apprehensions also. Because that could have just damaged the alliance and would have affected our performance," Paswan added.

The NDA won 30 of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats, with Paswan's party achieving a 100 per cent strike rate by bagging all five seats it contested.

He added that Kumar as chief minister has done "really well" compared to the way the state was run under the previous RJD governments. "There is always a scope for improvement," he said.

Curbing the crime rate can boost tourism, especially religious tourism, in the state, as people need to feel safe before visiting Bihar. A grand temple in Sitamarhi for Lord Ram's wife Sita and connecting the town, where the devout believe she was born, with Ayodhya can be a huge boost to tourism, he added.

He rued the lack of education infrastructure in cities of Bihar, noting that a large number of students from the state enroll in Kota's coaching centres, many of whom are owned by Biharis.

A good number of teachers there are also from Bihar, Paswan said, wondering why such a model cannot be replicated in Patna, Muzaffarpur or Bhagalpur.

The state regularly suffers from drought and floods at the same time, the Hajipur MP said, calling for inter-linking of rivers.