PATNA: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Monday took a swipe at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav for taking credit for creating jobs in the state during his stint as the deputy chief minister, saying Tejashwi and his family had no role to play in creating employment opportunities.

“All the work done (in Bihar) was done under me…. Now see, how many buildings are there in Patna.,” Kumar told reporters on Monday during his visit to the party office, his first after the Election Commission announced seven-phase elections.

Tejashwi Yadav and Nitish Kumar were on the same team from August 2022 till January 2024 when Kumar quit the Opposition’s grand alliance in the state and returned to the NDA for the second time in this current term.

Targeting former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, Nitish Kumar said these people are busy spreading their propaganda. “I am not involved in publicity, we remain busy in our work. Everyone who has worked in Bihar knows this…. What did these people do? The work and programmes were formulated earlier,” he said.

“They have no role in providing jobs in Bihar. Before 2005, his parents’ government lasted for 15 years. Was any work done at that time? No work took place earlier. People were scared to go out of their houses at night due to security reasons and there were no roads. I am working continuously and do not believe in bragging about it,” said Kumar.

The chief minister’s sharp comment was a reaction to Tejashwi Yadav’s claims on Saturday that the state created a record five lakh jobs during his 17-month-long tenure as the deputy chief minister for 17 months, five lakh jobs were created.

“In my 17 months of tenure as deputy CM, five lakh jobs were created, which is a record. Has PM Modi created so many jobs in the last 10 years? Our CM Nitish Kumar used to mock me during the 2020 assembly poll campaign that the RJD’s promise of generating 10 lakh jobs if voted to power, was an impossibility. I got the CM to give five lakh appointment letters to teachers and other employees during our rule,” Tejashwi Yadav said on Saturday.

The chief minister also brushed aside RJD’s decision to field RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav’s two daughters, Misa Bharti and Rohini Acharya.

Rajya Sabha MP Misa Bharti is RJD’s candidate from Patliputra whereas Rohini Acharya is pitted against BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Rudy from Saran Lok Sabha seat.

“There is no point in all this, let them keep doing whatever comes to their mind, they have not done any work,” Kumar said.

“I am going among the people and will go everywhere for the election campaign. We all will win. Every section of the society has been uplifted in Bihar. We are going to people to seek votes based on our work. What work they have done,” he said.

Responding to Nitish Kumar’s statement, Tejashwi Yadav said: “The NDA government has been in power for 17 years in Bihar, why didn’t they set up factories, why didn’t they remove poverty and migration, why didn’t they reduce inflation…’.