Ex-Bihar CM Jagannath Mishra revives party to work for NDA

Patna: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra Saturday revived his party Bhartiya Jan Congress (Rashtriya) and announced that he would work for the victory of BJP-led alliance at the hustings.

Mishra, who switched his loyalty towards Nitish Kumar after spending his entire political career in the Congress party which made him CM thrice and once a union minister, made a fervent appeal to the people and his party members to ensure the defeat of 25 years of mis-governance and non-development of Lalu-Nitish dispensation.

It may be noted that Mishra's son Nitish Mishra, who was a minister in Nitish cabinet before he switched his loyalty towards Jitan Ram Manjhi, is contesting now on a BJP ticket from Jhanjharpur assembly constituency.

"People should get rid of the duo's dispensation of 25 years as Bihar stood at the bottom among all states in respect to many areas.

"Be it industrialisation, power generation, private investments etc where Bihar has not fared well at all. I am saying on the basis of reports of various professional institutions and bodies like World Bank, Planning Commission, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies and Industrial Analysis, Socio-economic caste census," Mishra told reporters.

The state government has not been able to generate a single megawatt of power in the state, he said, adding that no state can even think of development in the absence of power.

Bihar is solely dependent upon NTPC's power which has been one of the prime reasons for non-industrialisation in the state, he said.

The state government has not been able to spend Rs 1,000 crore fund given by World Bank for the rehabilitation of Kosi region in the aftermath of Kosi deluge in 2008, Mishra said while reminding about the recent World Bank report which put Gujarat, Jharkhand and Bihar on Ist, 3rd and 21st rank in ease of doing business.

"It would be disastrous for the state if Lalu-Nitish duo forms the government after the elections...This is the need of the hour to protect Bihar from going into the hands of those who do not care for its development," Mishra said.

He, however, made it clear that he supported Nitish Kumar in 2005 and 2010 assembly elections as he (Nitish) was fighting against Lalu Prasad but now he (Nitish) has aligned with Lalu and hence there was no option but to oppose him.