IT won’t solve problems: Laloo

‘‘They say because of Laloo and Rabri, IT (Information Technology) hasn’t taken off. But that’s not true. IT cannot solve all problems,’’ he said.

The RJD leader said that he had been asked during his tenure and now his wife was asked why they never went abroad to get investment.

‘‘If we don’t go abroad, people criticise us. If we did go abroad, then the same people would have said, ‘look at them. They are going abroad to make money’.’’ For Bihar’s economic problems, he passed the buck on to the Centre. ‘‘People blame Rabri and Laloo Yadav but it’s the Centre’s discriminatory policies that have ruined Bihar,’’ he said. ‘‘Regionalism has increased due to this.’’

Laloo said the freight equalisation policy and the Mines and Mineral Regulation Act had destroyed the state’s chances for economic development. ‘‘Bihar’s money is being used outside but not a single rupee is flowing into the state,’’ he said. ‘‘Thanks to Bihar, UP is getting a lot of water. If it were the other way around, UP would have objected to it.”

On investments, he said, ‘‘I visited America when I was chief minister. I was told that any chief minister who goes there becomes an ex-chief minister but I went. We signed a number of MoUs but none of them led to investments.’’

The RJD president blamed North Bihar’s problems on the annual floods that occur due to rains in Nepal.

Talking at length about Bihar’s reputation, he said that people from Bihar who had gone outside the state were to blame for it. ‘‘We are responsible. A Bihari goes out of the state and he is not bothered about the state. He, in turn, makes fun of the state,’’ he said.

In a speech littered with jokes and tongue-in-cheek remarks, Laloo said the state had no money in its coffers to pay its employees. ‘‘We are not able to pay the salary of those working in nagar nigams. Why should the government be paying pensions? I know tomorrow, all the pensioners are going to be against me but pensioners also live on and on,’’ he added.

He said in the next two years, the RJD-led government would be focussing on electricity, education and roads. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who also spoke at the seminar, remarked, ‘‘Lalooji has blamed Nepal for North Bihar’s problems and the Centre for the rest. I don’t quite agree with that,’’ he said to much laughter.