BJP-JDU established only 'migration industry'; Bihar needs reconstruction, not migration: Cong

New Delhi, Nov 3 (PTI) The Congress on Monday claimed that the BJP-JDU in their 20 years of rule in Bihar have only established the "migration industry" and "systematically and deliberately weakened" the state's tradition of industry.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh reiterated his party's resolve to revive and strengthen Bihar's tradition of industry, asserting that the state needs reconstruction, not migration.

"In its 20 years of rule, the BJP-JDU has established only the migration industry in Bihar, a state brimming with limitless industrial potential. Bihar has been virtually erased from the national map of development and industry," Ramesh said in a post on X.

Once renowned for its sugar, paper, jute, silk, and dairy sectors, Bihar has today become synonymous with unemployment and migration, he claimed.

Ramesh said that after Independence, Congress governments in undivided Bihar set up numerous industrial units that firmly established the state on the country's industrial map.

During that era, Bihar's development wheel spun rapidly around heavy industries, energy, dairy, and rail production, he said.

Listing key industrial units established under the Congress rule, Ramesh cited the Barauni Oil Refinery which he said turned Bihar into an energy production hub.

He said the Sindri and Barauni fertiliser plants bolstered the nation's fertiliser security while Barauni Dairy was the foundation of today's Sudha Dairy.

Ramesh also gave the example of Rail Wheel Plant, Bela; Diesel Locomotive Plant, Marhowrah; Nebi Nagar Thermal Project; and Sudha Cooperative Dairy Network.

"On one hand, Congress governments laid the industrial foundation in Bihar with vision -- on the other hand the BJP-JDU government hasn't established a single significant industry; instead, through their corrupt and disorganised policies, they've ruined even the existing ones," Ramesh alleged.

He cited the example of Ashok Paper Mill, claiming that his 400-acre complex has now turned into ruins, and machines have rusted away, while workers have been uprooted.

"Bihar once had over 33 sugar mills, accounting for nearly 40% of the country's total sugar production. Today, most of them lie shuttered: Sakri, Rayam, Loht, Motipur, Banmankhi, Motihari...Machines were loaded onto trucks and sold as scrap," Ramesh said.

The prime minister promises in every election to restart them, but one sugar mill after another has shut down, he said.

"The jute industry has met the same fate. Rameshwar Jute Mill in Samastipur has been closed since 2017. Bhagalpur's famed silk industry is gasping its last. The spun silk factory has been shut for years. 95% of weaver families are drowning in debt and poverty," he said.

"The Chief Minister (Nitish Kumar) says: Big industries are set up by the sea. The Union Minister says: There's no land for industry in Bihar. Yet land is handed over to the Prime Minister's favoured industrialists at 1 rupee per acre," Ramesh alleged.

Today, over three crore people have left Bihar in search of employment, he claimed.

From Bihar's border districts like Katihar, Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria, labourers are toiling as daily wagers as far as Bengal and Assam, he said.

Posing Congress' questions to the BJP-JDU government, Ramesh asked when his party established heavy industries like Barauni, Sindri, Hatia, and Bokaro in landlocked Bihar without access to the sea, why is setting up industries being called impossible today.

"Isn't it true that over the last 20 years, Bihar has been stripped of industry, leaving only a migration-based economy?" Ramesh said.

Isn't it also true that the mills which provided employment to farmers, workers, and youth have become casualties of the BJP-JDU's "misguided policies and negligence" Ramesh alleged.

"Congress' resolve is to revive and strengthen Bihar's tradition of industry, employment, and self-reliance, which the BJP-JDU government has systematically and deliberately weakened over the past two decades. Bihar needs reconstruction, not migration," the Congress leader said.

The Bihar polls will be held in two phases on November 6 and 11, and results will be announced on November 14.

The opposition INDIA bloc, which has the RJD, Congress and the Left parties as the main constituents, has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav its chief ministerial candidate for the Bihar polls. PTI ASK ASK DV DV