Patna:

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday alleged that the budget presented by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was “inflated” and drafted with “ink dipped in lies”.

Talking to reporters outside the Vidhan Sabha premises, shortly after Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary presented the last budget before the state goes to polls, Mr Yadav also claimed that the NDA will be voted out of power.

“It is strange that despite no revenue generation, the size of the budget keeps increasing. The figure of Rs 3.71 lakh-crore is highly inflated. The budget papers seem to have been written with ink dipped in lies. They could have made it Rs 5 lakh-crore”, said Mr Yadav, a former deputy CM himself.

The RJD leader said the budget was “the lost opportunity for BJP-led NDA to do something for the people as it is not going to return to power”.

“We had asked the government to announce monthly stipend of Rs 2,500 for women, 200 units of free power and some other pro-people measures. They would have got the credit but they failed to grab the opportunity. The RJD promises to give these benefits to the people when it forms the next government”, said Mr Yadav, who is currently the leader of the opposition.

The RJD leader also sneered at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for patting on the back of Choudhary inside the House as a gesture of appreciation for the budget.

“It is his style. Whenever he is with leaders much younger than himself, Nitish ji says in a self-effacing manner – the future belongs to you”, said Mr Yadav, whom the JD(U) boss had called his successor, but who ended up losing power because of the CM’s sudden realignment with BJP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)