JDU raises question on NITI Aayog's ranking system, says many things wrongly reported about Bihar

"NITI Aayog SDG index report is not right. Many things have been wrongly reported about Bihar (in the index). NITI Aayog compared Bihar with developed states. So it's obvious that Bihar's rank will automatically go down. How can you forget where was Bihar before, where is it now and where is it going? We will present our thoughts in front of NITI Aayog with facts," senior JD-U leader and Bihar Education Minister Vijay Choudhary told ANI.

I know few people who enjoy when someone abuses Bihar, he added.

According to NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index 2020-21 released on June 4, Kerala retained the top rank with a score of 75, while Bihar was adjudged to be the worst-performing state with a score of 52. NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index 2020-21.

After the NITI Aayog report, many JD-U leaders including Upendra Kushwaha and Rajeev Ranjan demanded special status for Bihar.

Citing the report, many people from Bihar and other states started raising questions on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 16 years of leadership on social media.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav also slammed Nitish Kumar's leadership.

"Nitish is full of negativity. He closed down several health centres opened during my tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar and converted them into ghost houses and various school buildings have turned into garages. It is only because of this that Bihar has ranked the top from the bottom in the NITI Ayog report. The so-called double engine (government) has turned into trouble engine," Lalu wrote in a tweet in Hindi.

"Bihar is at the bottom as the result of 16 years of Nitish-BJP's relentless efforts and negative politics," he had said in another tweet.

Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav hitting out at Nitish Kumar tweeted, "Bihar has been placed at the bottom for the third consecutive year. This sums up the 16-year BJP-Nitish rule's progress on paper." (ANI)