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The verdict of the Bihar Assembly polls, due in October, could not only affect the ability of the Narendra Modi-led central government to deliver on its promised economic agenda, but also the internal dynamics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). That the PM is keen to score a resounding victory in the Bihar elections was evident when he inaugurated a slew of projects on Saturday and promised a special package of more than Rs 50,000 crore for the state.
At a huge public rally in north Bihar’s Muzzafarpur, Modi tore into his rivals, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, accusing them of halting the development of Bihar.
Earlier in the day, Kumar and Modi had shared the stage at an official function, where the two took subtle jibes at each other after the PM inaugurated the Daniawan-Bihar Sharif railway line, flagging off the Rajgir-Bihar Sharif-Daniawan-Fatuha passenger train and the Patna-Mumbai AC Suvidha Express. He also inaugurated the Indian Institute of Technology campus at Patna, laid the foundation stone for the Incubation Centre for Medical Electronics and inaugurated the first phase of the Jagdishpur-Haldia gas pipeline and two power projects of 250 Mw each at Barauni.
The PM also launched the Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana, promising 24x7 power supply to the electricity-starved state.
At the rally, his first in the run-up to the state polls, Modi accused Kumar of strangling development in Bihar because of personal vendetta against the PM. “I can understand some people don’t like other people’s faces. I can understand political differences. But if I was so bad, you should have come and slapped me, even strangled me. But you throttled the development of Bihar because of your problems with one man,” Modi said, referring to Kumar.
He also vowed to fulfil his 2014 Lok Sabha election promise of a special package to the state, along with incentives for industrial growth. The PM committed a special package of “more than Rs 50,000 crore”. “I cannot tell you the exact number because Parliament is in session, but I will come back to you after the session is over,” Modi said. He also announced a 15 per cent special investment incentive and a special depreciation allowance of 15 per cent for new investors.
The PM also launched a scathing attack on Kumar’s ally, Lalu Prasad. He said Prasad’s party, the RJD, was nothing but the “Rojana jungleraj ka darr” party. He attacked Kumar for keeping him away from election campaigning in Bihar when the Janata Dal (United) was part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). “Don’t worry, I am here now,” he said to roars of approval from an estimated crowd of 150,000 at the Chakkar Maidan in Muzzafarpur.
The PM recalled a luncheon meeting of the NDA in 2010, which Kumar had cancelled. “He invited us for lunch, but later took away our plates. Who does that? I didn’t say anything, but was moved when former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was mistreated and all his wealth was taken away. They don’t believe in democracy. There is some problem with his DNA. What happened to those who worked with him, to George Fernandes and to our Sushil Modi, who had once worked shoulder-to-shoulder with him?” the PM asked.
The BJP and the JD(U), including its earlier avatar of Samata Party, were allies in Bihar for 17 years, before parting ways in mid-2013, when it was clear Modi was the NDA’s prime ministerial candidate.
Even when the JD(U) was a part of the NDA, Kumar had avoided sharing the stage with the then Gujarat CM.
Taking a dig at the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad alliance, Modi referred to a recent tweet of the Bihar CM that had landed the latter in trouble with Prasad. The PM said: “There is no discussion on development, law and order, jobs and, education but on snake and poison. These two should sit and decide who is what. They say we don’t want Modi here. Will Bihar gain if they form a government here? Do we need such confrontation? No, people in Bihar today need a government that can work with the central government. Jungle raj has to come to an end in Bihar and only the BJP can do it.”
The rally was attended by senior state BJP leaders, as well as members of its allies --- Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Samata Party’s Upendra Kushwaha and Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular.
At the official event in Patna, the PM spoke about his vision of “cooperative federalism”, adding “days of chalking out development plans sitting in Delhi” were over. He disagreed with Kumar’s assessment that Bihar’s share of central allocations had dropped after the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations were implemented. Modi said Bihar would get Rs 3.75 lakh crore between 2015 and 2020; this amount, according to the previous devolution formula, would have been Rs 1.50 lakh crore, he said.
As Modi landed in Patna, the Bihar CM, in a series of tweets, raised what he called “seven critical issues” on which people across India wanted to hear from the prime minister. “We’re grateful that after 14 months, Modiji finds time to visit Bihar. As we get ready to hear more promises, what about the old ones?” Kumar asked.
He said the PM had promised special status to Bihar but the people of the state were still waiting for this, even after 14 months of him coming to power at the Centre. He questioned the withdrawal of the Backward Region Grant Fund, failure to deliver on the promise of depositing Rs 15-20 lakh from the unaccounted money he promised to bring back from abroad, the u-turn on the minimum support price, apathy towards farmer distress and the new land Bill. Kumar said today, about 70 per cent of the accounts opened under the Jan Dhan Yojana were ineffective. “Nobody knows how the poor would benefit from such bank accounts,” he said.
Elections to the 243-member Bihar Assembly are due in October. Along with its allies, the BJP had won 32 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar in May 2014. The JD(U)-RJD-Congress alliance won six of the 10 Assembly seats for which bypolls were held in August last year. The NDA had won most of the 24 legislative council seats for which elections were held earlier this month.
