Patna: Bharatiya Janata Party today released its manifesto for Bihar Assembly elections promising to distribute the coronavirus vaccine free of cost once approved by the ICMR, and also assured 19 lakh jobs for youths of the State.
Union Finance Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman, releasing the party’s manifesto, said that as soon as Covid-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale, every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. “This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto,” she said.
The BJP has promised three lakh jobs to teachers within the first year, five lakh jobs in the IT sector for which it has promised to build a “next generation IT hub”.
The party has also promised one lakh jobs in the medical sector and 10 lakh jobs in the agriculture sector. Thirty lakh pucca houses by 2022 and making one crore women financially independent by extending Rs 50,000 crore in micro finance institutions, are some of the other major poll promises made by the BJP.
The BJP’s vaccine promise has faced criticism from the opposition. Congress’s Jaiveer Shergill tweeted: “BJP would be the only political party in the world which thinks Covid Vaccine is an election lollipop instead of life saving measure to be administered as matter of right & not matter of conditional political privilege – BJP vicious mentality needs cure along with Covid.”
“What about non-BJP ruled states? Indians who didn’t vote BJP will not get free Covid vaccine?” – tweeted Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party.