Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi by ridiculing the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package offered by him and accused him of harbouring "contempt" for those seeking their rights from the Centre.
Taking on Modi, he said the way the prime minister announced the package made it look like that an auction of Bihar was being held and bids being made as he accused him of behaving in a way which went against "cooperative federalism", a pet theme Modi.
"On the one hand he says I was a 'yachak' (somebody pleading) and on the other hand he accuses me of having arrogance. It's very contradictory. I am willing to plead with the Centre for the cause of Bihar. He is the prime minister and can say whatever he wishes.
"He talks of cooperative federalism and acts contrary to it. He will humiliate the state government, call it incompetent... What kind of cooperative federalism is this?" Kumar wondered at press conference where he sought to pick holes in Modi's package.
Citing several projects which find a mention in the details of special package put out by the Centre after Modi's announcement, Kumar said proposals for many of them were already pending with Delhi and many others were already committed by the central dispensation.
"There is nothing new. They had to give it. They are not doing any favour. What is new?" he asked. "The way he spoke shows that he has a feeling of contempt. It seemed as if bids were being made for Bihar. Who is arrogant?" the chief minister asked.
Firing fresh salvo at the prime minister over his dig at him over Bihar's 'bimaru' status, Kumar sought to know if all the states given special packages in the past were 'bimaru'.
"Instead of patting on the back of those who are doing good work, they are being mocked at," he said, adding that Bihar has done well on all development parameters during his tenure.
Modi had ridiculed Kumar earlier in the day for his pleading with the previous United Progressive Alliance government for a mere Rs 12,000 cr, saying he had put the state's prestige at stake for political benefits.
Claiming that the Rs 1.25 lakh crore package was "no package but merely repackaging of old projects", Kumar gave details of several schemes included in it which had been sanctioned earlier
For building a new airport in Patna a sum of Rs 2,700 crore has been included in the special package, he said. "We have been hearing about this for long but no money has been allocated for acquiring 1500 acres of land needed for new the new airport," the CM said, adding "we can understand what would be the fate of this (package)".
Likewise, he said the ultra mega power project at Banka for which PM on Tuesday announced Rs 20,000 crore was actually approved when Sushil Kumar Shinde (of the Congress) was power minister.
"After we had arranged for everything including water, land etc the work did not start and now he has announced it as if it's something new," Kumar said. The prime minister announced Rs 404 crore for digital Bihar as part of the special package, Kumar said and wanted to know if the state was not part of Centre's Digital India programme.
The chief minister sought to know if budgetary provisions had been made for the projects included in the special package.
"There is no alignment, no DPR of these projects. How can we trust it will be implemented?" he wondered.
"Fifty thousand crore...sixty thousand crore...it looked like as if Bihar was being auctioned. Auctioning Bihar by way of a special package is similar to his earlier promise of depositing Rs 15-20 lakh in the accounts of every citizen from the black money that would come to the country from abroad," he said.
On his criticism by PM for returning the donation received from Gujarat for rehabilitation of Kosi flood victims, Kumar said, "While giving Rs 5 crore the then Gujarat CM publicised it in newspapers that Gujarat was the biggest donor. Many states had made bigger donations but nobody spoke about it."
"Besides, when I returned Rs 5 crore he lost no time to get it encashed...while he talks of my returning the donation, he does not speak about getting it encashed without losing any time," Kumar said sarcastically.
"Even after this episode why the BJP fought the 2010 Bihar election under my leadership? What is the rationale of raising the issue now?" he said.
Kumar said the state had submitted a memorandum to the Centre after taking on board all political parties and sought a special assistance of Rs 1,40,571 crore following its bifurcation and creation of Jharkhand. The projects under it included a Metro, three power plants, panchayat bhawans, mega food parks and an integrated steel plant, among others.
"The Rs 1.25 lakh crore special package is as if all committed liabilities of the Central government have been added together," Kumar said.
