Free vaccine for votes? Indian Finance Minister promises free COVID-19 vaccine doses for everyone in Bihar ahead of elections

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised free vaccine doses for everyone in Bihar.
• This is the ‘first promise’ mentioned in BJP’s poll manifesto.

As 1.3 billion people in India wait desperately for a COVID-19 vaccine, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised free vaccine doses for everyone in Bihar.

Presenting the saffron party’s manifesto, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised that if the incumbent state government led by BJP and its regional ally Janata Dal (United) (JDU) is voted back to power in Bihar, it will provide the coronavirus vaccine free of cost to everyone in the state post regulatory approval. This is the ‘first promise’ mentioned in BJP’s poll manifesto.


The state assembly election in Bihar is scheduled from October 28 to November 7. “The coronavirus pandemic has impacted everybody in the country and around the world. However, people in Bihar along with the government's effort have fought the pandemic. We vow to provide free COVID-19 vaccination to every resident as soon as Indian Council of Medical Research approves it,” read the BJP manifesto for upcoming Bihar election.

This has led to a lot of people wondering why the rest of the country doesn’t deserve the same generosity.




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