New Delhi, July 17 In a major announcement ahead of the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has declared free electricity for all domestic consumers using up to 125 units. The move has been hailed as "historic" by senior Janata Dal (United) leader K.C. Tyagi, who on Thursday welcomed the decision as a significant relief for the state’s Economically Weaker Sections.
“This is a historic and people-centric decision by the Bihar government,” Tyagi told IANS.
“It will provide much-needed support to marginalised communities and bring economic relief to lakhs of households.”
The initiative marks the first such move in Bihar, and political observers see it as part of a broader set of welfare announcements ahead of the crucial 2025 state elections.
Reacting to Opposition criticism over rising crime rates in Bihar, Tyagi said, “Some Opposition parties are engaged in a deliberate conspiracy to malign the image of the Bihar government. While we regret any untoward incidents, these are not acts carried out by organised criminal gangs with political patronage.”
He further reacted to Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks, in which the Congress MP accused the Election Commission of acting as the BJP’s "election chori wing" and claimed it was facilitating vote fraud in Bihar.
“About 96 per cent of voters have already been registered, and the remaining 4 per cent will be added soon,” Tyagi said.
“Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders will have a full month to raise any objections they may have. The process is transparent,” he professed.
On the controversy surrounding AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s decision to contest elections in Bihar, Tyagi responded to the RJD's criticism, saying, “This is a fight over the contract for Muslim votes, and the Congress, RJD, and Owaisi are all stakeholders in it.”
Meanwhile, AIMIM’s Bihar unit President and MLA Akhtarul Iman recently addressed a letter to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, urging the inclusion of AIMIM in the Grand Alliance to avoid a split in secular votes.
Several AIMIM leaders have expressed interest in joining forces with the RJD and Congress, and have confirmed that talks are ongoing with Tejashwi Yadav and other alliance representatives.
However, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi dismissed the possibility of joining the INDIA bloc. On July 14, he reiterated that his party would contest the Bihar polls independently, focussing on the Seemanchal region, where AIMIM has a significant support base.
In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, AIMIM won five seats, but four of its MLAs later defected to the RJD, weakening its political hold in the state.
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