 "Vijay Kumar Sinha")
Vijay Kumar Sinha, deputy chief minister of Bihar, exudes confidence in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winning all the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, betting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development initiatives and the Centre’s welfare schemes. In an interview with Harsh Kumar, he also talks about his government’s initiatives in checking illegal mining in the state. Edited excerpts:
How do you see BJP faring in Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections?
The pledge which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken to develop the infrastructure has led to a remarkable change on the ground in terms of roads and highways. All these are helping in the elections. People of Bihar have made up their minds. On one side, they have the option of Modi Ji as the PM face, who is a serious leader and has countered terrorism and corruption in this country. On the other side, there is no serious contender. Others are only trying to promote their families. We are sure to get all the 40 seats in Bihar and overall win over 400 seats in this election.
Which welfare schemes have you implemented and how is it helping people on the ground?
Schemes like Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana are successful measures taken by the BJP-led government at the Centre. Over 51 crore accounts have already been opened across the country. Bihar too is participating in this wave, and implementation can be seen on the ground. Jan arogya bima policy and other major initiatives have been successful on the ground. The same is with Mudra Yojana, where over 72 per cent of loans under this initiative have been given to women in the country. For youth, this initiative has become a boon. If one youth starts their own business, they further create several other jobs.
There have been several incidents of bridge collapse in the state. How are you working to maintain the quality of construction in the state?
The incidents of bridge collapse we have seen in the past were a failure of officers who were working on those projects. I have told my department that mishaps that happened during the previous government’s regime need to be checked and culprits should be punished. We need to take measures to ensure that such incidents don’t happen in future.
What steps are you taking to stop illegal mining in the state?
Illegal mining strengthens criminals and leads to corruption. To stop this, we are making all efforts, including taking action against officials as well. To put a check on illegal mining, we are also taking the support from our police department. We are hopeful of minimising such kinds of crime in the state soon.
