Serving Bihar my dharma, state is my family: Nitish's open letter to voters

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday penned an open letter to people, urging them to vote for the NDA and persuade their neighbours to do so, while recalling the plight of the state under the previous regime.

With only a day left for campaigning to end for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls, scheduled on April 26, the JD(U) supremo, in the letter, asserted that serving Bihar was his dharma and that the entire state was like his family.

JD(U) is set to contest all the five seats in the state that will go to polls in the second phase on Friday.

The longest-serving chief minister of the state, without mentioning his arch-rival Lalu Prasad and RJD by name, said in the opening remark in the letter, "You would recall the plight of Bihar under the previous regime..."

"...scams, murders, robberies and other types of crimes had come to define Bihar. Traders and industrialists migrated to other states. Even doctors were kidnapped for ransom," said Kumar, who ended a short-lived alliance with RJD in January.

"You all know of the sacrifices I made, since 2005, for Bihar's regeneration. Today, our state has got back its lost glory with all round progress, in power, roads, education and law and order," he claimed.

"Serving Bihar is my dharma. The entire state is like family to me," said Kumar who often fulminates against his arch-rival for promoting his sons and daughters in politics.

In an apparent rebuttal of the claim of RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav that he, as the then, deputy chief minister, deserved credit for large-scale recruitments in government departments, Kumar underscored that in his manifesto for 2020 assembly polls, "I had promised 10 lakh government jobs and an equal number of rozgar (employment opportunities)".

"I promise you my government will continue with employment generation, including government jobs," said Kumar.

"In the end I would make the appeal that your constituency is going to polls. Please help the NDA achieve the target of winning all 40 seats in Bihar," he added.

Kumar's party is contesting altogether 16 seats in the state, one less than the BJP which has got the lion's share in NDA in Bihar. Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is contesting five seats while former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha and ex-Union minister Upendra Kushwaha's Rashtriya Lok Morcha have got one seat each.