PATNA – Less than a week before the first phase of polling for the Bihar Assembly elections 2025, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Friday released its manifesto, the ‘Sankalp Patra,’ making a series of ambitious promises aimed at transforming the state’s economic and social landscape under the vision of a “prosperous and self-reliant Bihar.”
Unveiling the manifesto, BJP national president JP Nadda and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led a group of senior leaders from the coalition partners, including JDU and LJP (Chirag Paswan faction).
Key Promises and Economic Transformation:
Employment & Migration: The alliance’s most ambitious pledge is to create one crore government jobs to tackle the issue of large-scale migration. This will be supported by a comprehensive skill census to map and utilize the talents of Bihar’s youth, alongside setting up mega skill centres in every district.
Women Empowerment: The NDA promised financial assistance up to Rs 2 lakh under the Chief Minister’s Women Employment Scheme. It set an ambitious goal of creating one crore ‘Lakhpati Didis’ (women earning at least Rs 1 lakh annually) and introduced ‘Mission Crorepati’ to help successful women entrepreneurs scale their ventures.
Infrastructure: A major infrastructure push includes constructing seven new expressways and modernizing 3,600 km of rail tracks. The NDA plans to establish four new international airports in Patna, Darbhanga, Purnia, and Bhagalpur, along with developing metro rail networks in four major cities.
Industrial Development: Plans include building 10 new industrial parks in every district, 100 MSME parks, and over 50,000 cottage enterprises. The alliance also aims to establish a defence corridor, a semiconductor manufacturing park, and develop Bihar as the textile and silk hub of South Asia.
Agriculture, Education, and Heritage:
Farmers: The manifesto guarantees Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops. Financial assistance for farmers will be increased by Rs 3,000 under the new Karpuri Thakur Kisan Samman Nidhi, raising the total annual aid from Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000.
Education: The alliance promised an Education City and free, quality education from ‘KG to PG’ for students from economically weaker families. Residential schools will be established in every subdivision for SC students, who will receive Rs 2,000/month for higher education.
Tourism: The birthplace of Goddess Sita (Mother Janaki) will be transformed into a world-class spiritual city named ‘Sitapuram’, alongside developing the Ramayana, Jain, Buddhist, and Ganga Circuits.