Jan Suraaj Party Alleges Bihar Govt Diverted ₹14,000-Cr World Bank Fund for Poll Freebies

Mangalore Today News Network

Patna, Nov 16, 2025: The Jan Suraaj Party on Saturday accused the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government of diverting a World Bank loan worth ₹14,000 crore to finance election-time cash transfers and freebies ahead of the 2025 Assembly polls.

A day after the fledgling party failed to win any seat in its electoral debut, Jan Suraaj national president Uday Singh alleged that the state government had “splurged ₹40,000 crore since June” to “purchase votes” using public money.

“The scale was unprecedented. Even ₹14,000 crore of the World Bank loan was diverted for doles and freebies,” Singh told reporters.

He cited the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana, under which ₹10,000 was deposited into the bank accounts of women shortly before voting. “People kept getting money till a day before polling despite the model code of conduct. This was enough to sway women who were hand-to-mouth,” he alleged.

Singh added that the BJP-led NDA, which retained power in the state, “would have been decimated” without such expenditure. He also claimed that a section of Jan Suraaj supporters shifted to the NDA “out of fear of the return of jungle raj under the RJD”.

His colleague Pavan Verma echoed the allegations, saying the amount was diverted from a ₹21,000-crore World Bank fund meant for other projects. “Bihar’s public debt is ₹4,06,000 crore. The treasury is empty. An hour before the model code came into effect, ₹14,000 crore was taken out and distributed to 1.25 crore women,” he told ANI, adding that the information was based on internal sources and “could be wrong”.

There was no immediate response from the NDA or the Bihar government to the allegations.