BJP leaders on Sunday attacked chief minister Nitish Kumar for lack of development and fall in revenue through commercial taxes, excise, and transport after the NDA split in June 2013.
Attacking Nitish, BJP senior leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that in 2012-13 the state registered a 28.87 per cent per year rise in revenue collection from internal resources, but in 2013-14 it came down to 22.81 per cent. And in the just concluded year, 2014-15, the revenue growth was just 3.33 per cent over the year before.
The BJP leader said all departments registered a fall in revenue collection despite high taxation steps taken by the government. Sushil said: "In 2014-15, the state government set a target to collect Rs 3,600 crore in revenue, but collection stood at just Rs 2,739 crore."
While Sushil attacked the government on financial grounds, another senior BJP leader, Nand Kishore Yadav, dared the chief minister to highlight his government's achievements and not those achieved when the BJP was a partner in the government.
Nand Kishore said Nitish was, of late, highlighting development figures from the time when the BJP shared power with his party, as the JDU government had achieved nothing in the past 22 months.
The BJP leaders were reacting to Nitish's statements at a function organised by Asian Development Research Institute (Adri) and Population Foundation of India (PFI) on Saturday. Nitish had highlighted how schemes he announced for women's development, like the cycle and uniform scheme and quota for women in panchayats, had changed people's mindset.
Nand Kishore said: "These steps were taken when the BJP was a partner in the NDA government. So, Nitish can't take all credit for it."
He further said: "When the BJP was a partner in government, welfare schemes were not just announced, but implemented too." The former minister in Nitish's cabinet questioned delay in implementation of schemes such as a separate battalion for tribal women, distribution of sanitary napkins among girl students who attain puberty etc. Nitish had, in 2013, announced setting up of separate battalions for tribal women, especially Tharu tribals in West Champaran.
In February 2014, participating in the concluding ceremony of Tarang, a sports championship, in Patna, Nitish had announced free sanitary napkins as part of a government effort to boost girls' education and stem the dropout rate in higher classes. Sources said the two schemes are yet to be implemented.
