Piyush Goyal Challenges Migration Narrative: How Bihar's Development is Creating Opportunities at Home

Union Commerce Minister and senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal has challenged the negative perception associated with migration from Bihar, suggesting that it's not inherently problematic. Speaking at NDTV's Bihar Power Play conclave shortly before the Bihar elections, he questioned the assumption that migration is always detrimental.

"Migration out of the city is not always bad. If a person from Bihar goes to Japan, is it bad?" Goyal remarked. He emphasized that Biharis are becoming job creators, adding, "You have to see the unemployment rate in the context of the past employment rate. Today's youth are not moving out of Bihar, as resources are being created here."

Goyal attributed this positive shift to the collaborative "double-engine government" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which he credits with bringing significant development to the state.

"The kind of infrastructure that we have in Bihar now, no one would have imagined that in the past. No one would have thought that Patna would get a metro train. There used to be permanent chaos in Patna. There were railway tracks in the middle of the city centre. Now there are flyovers and other infrastructure development. Bihar is moving forward, and that is the basis for the manifesto," Goyal explained.

He highlighted specific developments, including 14 ethanol plants and the launch of the Makhana Board, emphasizing the importance of value addition in the state's economic growth.

"Today, there are opportunities in Bihar. There are highways and rural roads, and poor people are getting homes. These things bring opportunities and jobs. When there is infrastructure, it brings opportunity," the union minister stated.

Addressing political opposition, Goyal characterized Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav as "symbols of failed experiments." This came in response to allegations that the NDA had copied their manifesto.

"Those who fail the exam keep crying all the time. The Mahagathbandhan is a failed experiment. Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav are symbols of a failed experiment," he asserted.

Contrasting the BJP's promise of one crore jobs with the Mahagathbandhan's pledge of 2.5 crore jobs, Goyal emphasized the practicality of his party's approach given budgetary realities.

"We have promised one crore jobs. It includes government and private jobs. This is a practical promise and can be fulfilled. We have made a plan on how to get technological companies here and how we can create industrial parks here," he elaborated.

Regarding reports of rising crime in Bihar, Goyal challenged the data's validity by suggesting historical underreporting.

"In the past regime, if there was a crime, no one would dare to register an FIR. If you couldn't even register a case, what would the data say? But now the farmers' incomes have increased, women can venture out at dark without fear," he concluded.