Patna, Mar 12: Leader of Opposition and Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday launched a strong criticism of the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, alleging that the state has performed poorly across nearly all development indicators during the alliance’s 21-year tenure.
His remarks came just days before the Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar 2026, scheduled for March 16. In the upcoming contest, six candidates — five supported by the NDA and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal — are competing for five seats.
Taking to social media platform X, Yadav targeted what he described as the “double-engine government”, claiming that despite the NDA’s prolonged rule, the state continues to lag behind on several socio-economic measures.
According to him, Bihar ranks among the weakest states in the country on many development parameters. He alleged that the state faces severe challenges such as high migration, widespread unemployment, crime and corruption, and significant multidimensional poverty.
Yadav further asserted that Bihar records some of the lowest figures in terms of literacy rate, per capita income and farmers’ earnings. He also claimed that the state has limited industrial growth, poor infrastructure and weak educational standards.
The RJD leader added that residents of the state are burdened with high costs for essential commodities such as LPG, electricity and petrol-diesel. He also alleged that property prices in parts of Bihar have become costlier than in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai.
Reacting to the allegations, BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar dismissed Yadav’s claims and argued that the state’s current situation should be compared with the period between 1990 and 2005 when Bihar was governed by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi.
Kumar said the state began to see improvement only after Nitish Kumar and the NDA came to power in 2005, claiming that the alliance had steered Bihar away from deterioration and placed it on a path of development.
The political exchange between the opposition and the ruling alliance comes amid rising political activity in the state ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.
