Calling the Bihar CM arrogant, the PM campaigning in Banka, said that his special package to Bihar was not a favour, but a right of the state.
Attacking Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said he is “too arrogant” to be trusted with governance and asked people to back the development agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party to change the state’s fortunes.
Addressing his first public rally after announcement of the assembly polls, Modi wooed the youth and the poor promising to address the issue of migration for employment and told them that the solution to all their problems lie in development.
The PM also took a dig at his rivals for doubting the delivery of the financial package for Bihar announced by him.
“Some people are raising questions on the Rs 1.65 lakh crore package announced by me. They are asking whether it will come or not. Should a single rupee be given to the present government. Will it reach you?
“Even if I give it, his (Nitish’s) arrogance is so much that he may even return it. I am worried that even if I give the Rs 1.65 lakh crore to the state, he will announce that he does not require this money as it has been given by Modi. I cannot trust him,” he said, recalling that an ‘angry’ Kumar had returned the Rs 5 crore relief announced by Gujarat for the flood-affected in Kosi.
The PM also asked former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who shared the dais with him, whether he can trust Kumar after he ousted him from the top job in the state some months after having appointed him.
“Nobody can trust him after what he did to Jitan Ram Manjhi. People of Bihar cannot trust him,” Modi said.
He also countered the attack of his rivals on his announcement of a huge package for Bihar, saying he was not doing any favour to Bihar as has been alleged.
“The government in Delhi is not doing any favour to anyone. This is the right of Bihar and its people, which I am trying to provide unlike in the past. I am fulfilling the responsibility entrusted to me,” he said, adding, “This is not Modi’s money, it belongs to Bihar and its people”.
Holding that Bihar has seen all kinds of ‘isms’ like feudalism, capitalism, separatism and dynastyism, he said, “It is time that people of the state should vote for ‘vikasvaad’ (development).”
Appealing to youth to turn up in large numbers to cast their vote for the National Democratic Alliance in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls, he said stressing that Bihar’s development was linked to the country’s progress.
Citing a World Bank report on ease of doing business, he said that Bihar continues to lag behind at 27th place among Indian states unlike Jharkhand, which was ruled by BJP after bifurcation, progressed from 29th to 3rd place.
Modi also talked about meeting a delegation of people from Bihar in the US during his recent visit and said they were more worried about changing the fortunes of their home state.
