Modi announces special package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a "special package" of Rs 1,25,000 crore (See break up of package here) for poll-bound Bihar during his address at Ara district, in the state.

"I am announcing a package of Rs 1,25,000 crore for Bihar's development from the land of Ara…this will change the fate of the state," Modi said. An additional Rs 40,000 crore has also been announced for existing projects.

The prime minister made the announcement after the foundation stone of a four lane road in Bhojpur district.

Modi also hit out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for putting the prestige of Bihar at stake for his political gains by pleading with the previous UPA government for packages and getting only Rs 12,000 crore.

"Now you give me your blessings to change the fate of Bihar... Only development will benefit the state and eradicate its poverty. Bihar will touch new heights of development," he said at a government function where several projects were launched," Modi said.

Amid high-stakes Assembly election, Bharatiya Janata Party is banking heavily on the Centre's development package to wrest power from Kumar, its one time ally-turned-rival, who has now joined hands with Lalu Prasad's RJD to take on the saffron combine.

Attacking Kumar for his claim that Bihar was no longer a 'bimaru' state as claimed by Modi in his previous rally in Bihar, Modi wondered why the chief minister had been seeking packages all the time.

"Our chief minister turned very angry and said who is Modi to call Bihar a 'bimaru' state. He said with authority that Bihar is no longer a bimaru state. If it is true, then I will be the happiest person. I welcome this.”

"Tell me, if somebody is healthy, will he go to a doctor. If somebody's stomach is full, will he go anywhere seeking food? I am surprised that on the one hand he says Bihar is not bimaru and on the other he keeps asking for something or the other. Let the people of Bihar decide," Modi, accompanied by many Union Ministers, said.

Building up the tempo ahead of special package announcement, Modi cited the previous two packages of Rs 10,000 crore and Rs 12,000 crore given to the state in 2003 and 2013 and said the Kumar government could not utilise them properly.

Referring to his promise made during the Lok Sabha polls that Rs 50,000 cr package would be given to Bihar, Modi said he realised after coming to power that the amount was "nothing".

The PM also compared the past assistance given by the then Atal Bihari Vajpayee NDA government and UPA government and told the chief minister that he should properly take note of his package announcement, "kaan theek rakh kar sun lijiye".

Referring to Kumar's split with BJP in 2013, he said the chief minister then went to 'Delhi Durbar' and pleaded that please give me something to keep my honour.

"For political benefits, he put at stake the prestige of Bihar," Modi said, adding that Rs 12,000 crore given by UPA was like giving a candy to a child who cries too much.

That package played with the self respect of Bihar, he maintained.

Invoking freedom fighter Babu Veer Kunwar Singh, who hailed from Arrah, and seeking Jayaprakash Narayan's blessings, he went on to ask people, "Should it be Rs 50,000 crore or more, Rs 60,000 cr, Rs 70,000 cr...," he said as the crowd cheered and then stood up as he made the final announcement of Rs 1.25 lakh crore.

Wooing the electorate, he said people of Bihar were bestowed with "sharp intellect" and mentioned that Chanakya was born here.

He also spoke about the "comprehensive work" being done by his government, especially regarding skilling youth and training women, to develop the country and took a jibe at the previous dispensations, saying they had a "piecemeal" approach to progress.

Chief Minister Kumar, who had gone to receive the PM at Patna Airport, was not present at the Arrah function where the PM inaugurated & laid foundation stone of 11 National Highway projects of 700 km at a capital cost of Rs 9700 crore.

Bihar Road Construction Department minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan was present on the dais.

The prime minister spoke about his trip to UAE and said the government their had promised investment of Rs 4.5 lakh crore in India.

"In coming days, skill development is going to change the future of Bihar. The Centre does not work by throwing crumbs and nor can the country be taken forward by throwing crumbs. We don't want to work in piecemeal," he said and added that his government's 'Make in India' and 'Skill India' initiatives complemented each other.

India, he said, cannot progress without growth in eastern states like Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal and his government was working towards their development.

Reaching out to Dalits and backwards, he invoked the lifelong work of new Bihar governor Ram Nath Kovind who, Modi said, had spent his life for the development of Dalits, backwards, extremely backwards and the deprived.

Giving details of Rs 40,000 crore package announced earlier, he said Rs 8,000 crore would be the unspent amount of the package given by the UPA government, Rs 12,000 crore worth road projects of National Highways and Rs 20,000 crore of the factory that would come at Banka district.

Seeking to highlight the approach of the Congress, which is now a part of secular alliance with JD-U and Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar poll, towards the state, Modi said "the UPA provided a chocolate to Bihar in the form of Rs 12,000 crore as given to a crying child to calm him."

The PM said he was criticised for not announcing a special package during his last visit to Bihar when the Parliament session was on.

Kumar has been attacking Modi on the issue of providing special package for Bihar.

Even on Monday Kumar said he was waiting to see if the special package announced by PM has some new projects or "merely repackaging of old ones."

The PM also criticised Kumar for failing to spend money provided on previous two packages.

"Its a 'karwa satya' (bitter truth) that out of Rs 10,000 crore special package given by Vajpayee government in 2003 the state could not spend Rs 1000 crore and in Rs 12,000 crore package of UPA government it could spend only Rs 4000 crore," he said.

Earlier, in a bid to strike a rapport with the people, the PM opened his speech by greeting the people in Bhojpuri and remembered freedom fighter Kuer Singh, who hailed from Bhojpur district of Bihar.

The PM will address a rally at Saharsa later in the day.

A host of leaders, including Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ramvilas Paswan, Ravishankar Prasad, Radhamohan Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy besides, state BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, Upendra Kushwaha, Bihar Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan and local MP R K Singh were among others present on the dais.

Later addressing a rally in Saharasa, the prime minister cited latest state government crime figures to argue that Bihar was already hearing the footsteps of 'jungle raaj', a jibe at Kumar's alliance with Lalu Prasad's RJD, whose government in the 90s was criticised for the poor law and order situation.

Between January and June 2015, heinous crimes had risen by 34 per cent and murders by 46 per cent across the state, he said, adding these were signs of 'jungle raaj'. Numbers of riots had increased by 72 per cent, he said.

"Tell me, these are signs of jungle raaj or not. Your life will become difficult or not... You give us power in Patna and we will sort out all your problems," he said.

Lashing out at Kumar, Modi said he has "sat in the lap" of Congress which had jailed Jayaprakash Narayan and called it a "betrayal" with the socialist leader.

"I have announced a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package to change the fate of Bihar, to make a 'naya' Bihar. I assure you that I will change the face of Bihar," he told a rally as he sought their votes for the BJP-led NDA.

Talking of Kumar's decision to split with BJP in 2013, which Modi dubbed as a betrayal with the saffron party and the people of Bihar, the Prime Minister said he ran to the then UPA government offering his support to it if the state was given a package.

"He got Rs 12,000 crore and began dancing over it. This package played with the self-respect of Bihar... The total package I have given is Rs 1.65 lakh crore," Modi said, underlining that the Rs 1.25 cr package was in addition to several projects worth Rs 40000 cr announced earlier.

The prime minister also made a mention of 2008 Kosi floods, which had badly hit the region, and targeted Kumar for returning Rs 5 cr cheque sent to Bihar by him as the then Gujarat chief minister.

"Is this behaviour appropriate in public life? People in the Kosi region may die but I will not leave my arrogance. Those who cannot leave their arrogance should be left or not?," he said, without naming the chief minister.

Kumar had returned the cheque after Modi put out advertisements in Bihar newspapers about it, which he saw as an attempt by the BJP leader to build his political capital.

This was Modi's third rally in Bihar and first in the Mithila region, which the NDA had swept in the Lok Sabha polls.

With inputs from PTI