Tejashwi Yadav's big poll promise: ‘One govt job per household within 20 months'

RJD Leader Tejashwi Yadav.

Days after the Election Commission announced the poll schedule for Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday that one person from every household in Bihar without a government job will be given on if the Mahagathbandhan is voted to power in the assembly elections next month.

A contest, which is increasingly being defined by competitive welfare measures, leading up the high-stakes two phased polling on November 6 and 14, added one more in the long list of measures with  Yadav's announcement.

Addressing a group of reporters in Patna, Yadav said: "...I make a historic and youth-centric announcement today...We will bring a new Act and provide jobs to all families without a govt job...As soon as we form Govt, this Act will be brought within 20 days and in 20 months there will be no family without a Govt job."

The former deputy chief minister's announcement today should be seen in continuation to a gamut of election-centric announcements made by the incumbent NDA government.

On September 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, a state-funded assistance scheme for women in Bihar. He rolled out the self-employment scheme through videoconferencing from Delhi, and directly transferred ₹10,000 each into the bank accounts of 75 lakh women in the poll-bound State.

Additionally, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on October 3, transferred Rs 2500 crore through DBT into the bank accounts of 25 lakh women across Bihar giving financial assistance of Rs 10,000 each under Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana.

While announcing the promise, the former deputy chief minister also asserted that this is the first of the many announcements he will be making ahead of the assembly elections, stressing that their priority is to provide employment to the people of Bihar rather than giving them an "unemployment allowance" as done by the Nitish Kumar's government.

Launching a scathing attack on Nitish Kumar, he said that among the youth, there is no need for a 75-year-old chief minister, Earlier this year, Yadav appealed to the youth of Bihar to give him 20 months to change the State, as they had given Chief Minister Nitish Kumar 20 years.