The Nitish Kumar-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar announced on Wednesday that it is canceling 350 tenders awarded by the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) during the period when Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) was allied with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary stated that the canceled tenders, worth ₹826 crore, were issued while RJD lawmaker Lalit Kumar Yadav served as the state’s PHED minister in the Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance government between August 2022 and January 2024. These contracts were for the supply of drinking water in rural areas.
Chaudhary, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, announced upon his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister that the government would review the projects undertaken by the Grand Alliance in departments overseen by the RJD and Congress.
Officials noted that 1,100 contracts worth ₹4,600 crore were signed during Yadav’s tenure as PHED minister. A senior official stated that the 350 contracts related to rural water supply were scrapped by current PHED minister Niraj Kumar Bablu following an inquiry that indicated due process was not followed. Most of these projects involved the installation of hand pumps and mini water supply systems in rural areas.
The Deputy Chief Minister also warned that officials who did not adhere to the stipulated norms would face consequences.
Of the 350 canceled projects, the largest number (106) were in Banka district, followed by Jamui (73), Lakhisarai (20), Aurangabad (18), and Ara (11).
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwary criticized the cancellation of the contracts, describing it as a vindictive move by the Nitish Kumar-led government against RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. He claimed that leaders of the JD(U) and BJP were intimidated by Yadav’s growing popularity and that the Grand Alliance government had implemented many people-friendly initiatives that created employment for about 7-8 lakh youths. Tiwary added that the RJD would not be intimidated by such tactics.
In February, Bihar’s cabinet secretariat instructed officials to review the activities of the health, road construction, urban development, and rural works departments, which were headed by RJD ministers during the Grand Alliance government.
