With assembly elections due in Bihar later this year, it has rained goodies for the state in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's latest Budget.
With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sent a strong message to ally, Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, that their partnership remains intact and that they will be formidable partners at the hustings.
The Janata Dal-U has 12 Lok Sabha members whose support is crucial to the Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government, as the BJP has only 240 MPs, short of 32 MPs for a simple majority.
On Saturday Sitharaman announced the setting up of a Makhana Board, financial support for western Kosi canal and support for enhancing the capacity of IIT Patna.
She also announced that the Centre will establish a National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management in Bihar and also facilitate greenfield airports there to meet the future needs of the state.
Another overture to the state was Sitharaman's Madhubani painting sari she wore for her 8th consecutive budget presentation.
This sari was gifted to her by Madhubani artist Dulari Devi at the Mithila Chitrakala Sansthan during her visit in November 2024.
As the goodies kept coming for Bihar, Samajwadi Party President and former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav got up and said, 'UP ke liye bhi kuch dete (you should have given something to Uttar Pradesh too).'
However, the other important NDA ally, the Telugu Desam Party, which has 16 Lok Sabha members, was not given similar treatment. Andhra Pradesh's loss, it seemed, was Bihar's gain.
'I thank her that she wore the sari today and gave a message. She has honoured Mithila area and Bihar.' JD-U national Working President Sanjay Kumar Jha posted on X.
'A game-changer for the region's agricultural economy,' Jha added.
Others on social media were not so charitable.
Sucheta Dalal, the well-known financial journalist and editor, wrote on X, 'Welcome to #BiharBudget25 --- airports, makhana, minerals and what not -- winning elections is important -- who cares about national GDP. Will Bihar also be encouraged to increase fertility levels with higher subsidies!'
Another netizen, Sumit Behal, wrote on X, 'Government should rename the Union Budget as Bihar budget sponsored by taxpayers of India.'
Another user Fundamental Investor posted on X, 'More people will want their children to be born in Bihar than in USA after this budget.'
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