Nitish Kumar at Sandy’s Compound in Bhagalpur on Thursday. Picture by Amit Kumar

Nitish Kumar on Thursday criticised the Narendra Modi government for its step-motherly attitude towards repairing national highways in Bihar.

Nitish also called upon the JDU activists to counter the “false and tall” claims the BJP made in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections and also warned that the party threatened social harmony in the country.

The former chief minister, on the road in different parts of eastern Bihar since Wednesday for his Sampark Yatra, on Thursday arrived in Bhagalpur from Banka. He covered Lakhisarai and Munger on Wednesday.

Nitish, looking quite exhausted mainly because of his hectic schedules and the bumpy road drives in this region, virtually lost his cool and lambasted the central government for the dilapidated conditions of the national highways. “You know, the national highway is a central government property but it always remains hostile towards the roads in Bihar. It even does not release any repair expenses,” he alleged.

He added that during the tenure of the government with the BJP in Bihar, Rs 1,000 crore was spent for repairing the national highways in Bihar from the state government funds. “Why the central government is not returning back the amount to Bihar? That time, there was the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre but now it’s the BJP. Why the BJP leaders who at that time were enjoying different important portfolios in the state cabinet, are keeping mum over it? Why don’t they urge the Prime Minister to return back the due amount to Bihar?” Nitish set questions for his political rivals.

During his 35-minute speech, which mostly concentrated to abuse the central government in general and Modi in particular, Nitish urged the party workers to recall the promises once made by the Prime Minister during the Lok Sabha campaigning. “Would you like to hear such promises?” Nitish asked the audience amid video clippings of some of Modi’s speeches.

“Listen to the speech and now tell me do any one of you feel that the pre-poll speeches were just pseudo promises to grab the votes?” he said. Nitish criticised the hostile attitude of the central government for ignoring the mass demand of special status for Bihar.

Nitish, in his sentimental appeal to the party workers at Sandy’s Compound, said each JDU worker should start counter-attacking the BJP propagandas. “You should be vocal against the ill desires of the BJP and never let them allow to disturb the social tranquilities in your surroundings,” he said.