PK's party accuses NDA: World bank funds allegedly misused for ₹10,000 handouts to women

Patna (The Uttam Hindu): Jan Suraj spokesperson and senior party strategist Pawan Verma has leveled a sensational allegation against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Verma claimed that funds allocated for a World Bank-supported project were misused to gain electoral advantage in the Bihar assembly elections.

According to Verma, this money was distributed to female voters under the "Chief Minister Women's Employment Scheme." He stated that 12.5 million women in Bihar received ₹10,000 each in their accounts, but he raised serious doubts about the source of this money and the timing of its transfer.

"Rs 14,000 crore distributed an hour before the code of conduct."

Citing information received by the party, Pawan Verma questioned Bihar's financial situation. He said, "The government debt in Bihar currently stands at Rs 4,06,000 crore. The daily interest is Rs 63 crore. The treasury is empty."

He then made a serious allegation, saying, "The party has heard—though this may be incorrect—that the transfer of ₹10,000 was made from ₹21,000 crore that came from the World Bank for another project." Verma also claimed, "An hour before the election code of conduct came into effect, ₹14,000 crore was withdrawn and distributed among 12.5 million women in the state."

'If true, how ethical is this?'

However, Pavan Varma stressed that he was not presenting this information as established fact. He said, "As I said, this is our information. If it's wrong, I apologize. But if it's true, the question arises as to how ethical it is."

Recalling PM Modi's "rewadi" comment,

the Jan Suraj leader argued that this sudden financial distribution inevitably influenced voters and diluted the message of his new party. He also noted that Bihar has 40 million women voters, of whom 25 million have not received the amount, which "makes the remaining women feel that if the NDA does not come to power, we will not get the benefits."

Asked whether such schemes had changed the electoral equation, Verma pointed to Prime Minister Modi's earlier comments about "freebies." He asked, "Prime Minister Modi himself has criticized giving away freebies... What happened in Bihar now?"