As soon as Tejashwi Yadav has started making bomb promises in the field of Bihar Assembly elections 2025, the stir among political parties has intensified. Tejashwi has not only made promises to woo the youth, women and employees but has also made them a symbol of change in Bihar by giving them the slogan of ‘Change Maker’. But the question is, will these promises like government job to every family, Rs 30 thousand salary to Jeevika Didis become the strength of the Grand Alliance?
These promises not only seem attractive on the surface, but also directly target the problems of Bihar like unemployment (about 15%) and migration. Yet, their practicality, financial burden and attacks from the opposition have made them risky.
Tejashwi Yadav Made a series of promises through his visits and press conferences, mainly focusing on employment, women empowerment and social justice. The most important promise among these is a government job for every family in the state. Tejashwi claimed that as soon as the Grand Alliance government is formed, every family of Bihar (total 2.97 crore) will be given at least one government job in 20 months.
Along with this, the promise of permanent job and salary of Rs 30 thousand to Jeevika Didis is also important. According to this promise, about 2 lakh Jeevika Didis (members of women self-help groups) of Bihar are to be given the status of government employees. Besides, it is not an easy task to fulfill the promise of permanent jobs to all the contract employees of the state – who are in lakhs.
Apart from this, Tejashwi has made many promises. However, many of Tejashwi’s promises can be fulfilled by the government with its willpower. But some promises like government job to every family and financial assistance to women etc. are such which are not only difficult but also impossible to fulfill. Even in the states where Congress and BJP are in power, such promises have not been fulfilled till date. Obviously the people of Bihar are also understanding that these promises of Tejashwi are only to come to power.
May create the image of an irresponsible dream-selling leader
Political analyst Vijayendra says that if a father who rides a bicycle talks about gifting a motorcycle to his son, then the son starts dancing in joy of the fulfillment of his dream. But if the same father talks about buying a car for his son, then for the son it becomes like teasing or making empty promises. Vijayendra says that Tejashwi’s promises are like this. Common people also know that these are promises, what about the promises?
BJP and JDU have already started calling Tejashwi’s announcements as pipe dreams. An attempt is being made to give a message to the public that Tejashwi’s economic understanding is weak, and his promises can make Bihar bankrupt.
It is being said repeatedly from BJP that Tejashwi Yadav talks about jobs, but tell us where will the money come from? Nitish Kumar also taunts that it is easy to make promises, difficult to keep them.
Obviously, through these statements, the BJP-JDU alliance wants to create the image of Tejashwi as an irresponsible dream-selling leader. If the public understands that these people will get votes but will not be able to fulfill their promises, then it will backfire for the Grand Alliance.
Need for credible plan instead of promises
If Tejashwi Yadav wants to make his promises the strength of the Grand Alliance, then he should have presented plans and not promises. For example, while talking about jobs, he should have told how it will be implemented.
The situation has become such that the leaders of the Grand Alliance are not able to answer the journalists.
Even a smart person like Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar starts looking sideways on this issue. Till date, when he was asked in the Panchayat about Tejashwi’s promise of giving government job to every family, he could not answer properly. His opponents made fun of him by making reels of his answer. Obviously, giving government job to every family means giving at least 2 crore government jobs. Whatever government cannot do in the next 20 years, Tejashwi talks about fulfilling his promise within 20 months.
Obviously, unless the promises are converted into concrete policy, they will remain mere decoration of speeches. The Grand Alliance should prepare its manifesto with economic feasibility rather than emotional appeal. This strategy will instill confidence in the public and weaken the attacks of the opposition.
Political trap of promises or suicidal step?
Tejashwi Yadav’s charisma, communication style and connection with the youth make him a big face in the politics of Bihar. But his entire election strategy revolves around big promises. In politics, any promise becomes powerful when it has credibility, accuracy and possibility of implementation.
The common youth is understanding that even BJP and Jansuraj can make such promises. But they did not do it because they are not fooling the public like this. NDA and Jansuraj have also made many promises which are practical and can be fulfilled after the formation of the government.
Tejashwi’s promises are not getting any support because even his allies in the grand alliance are not endorsing such promises. Congress leaders never make such promises which they are not able to fulfill. Congress had talked about restoration of old pension scheme in Karnataka and Himachal but till date it has not been completed.
There is enthusiasm in the current promises of Tejashwi Yadav, but there is a lack of concrete policy and financial framework. This lack opens the easiest way for BJP-JDU to attack.
lack of administrative credibility
When Tejashwi Yadav was the Deputy Chief Minister in 2015–2017, there were many controversies in the departments under him (especially road and building construction). The allegations of corruption against them may not have been proved in the court yet, but BJP-JDU raise these cases again and again. In such a situation, when they say that we will give jobs to the youth, the opposition immediately asks – is it in the same way as it was given during Lalu-Rabri rule? This satire arouses the feeling of administrative incompetence in the minds of the public.
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