Patna, Dec. 18: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today strongly objected to Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee reportedly offering Rs 8,750 crore as “bailout package” to the Mamata Ban-erjee government in Bengal as a “Bihar-like package”.

The money has been sanctioned as backward region grant fund (BRGF) that the UPA has claimed to have given to Bihar during its previous regime.

Nitish has written a letter to Mukherjee quoting a newspaper report that said: “The finance minister (Pranav) modelled it (bailout package of Rs 8,750 crore to Mamata) exactly in the shape of the BRGF given to Nitish Kumar government by UPA-1. Nitish got Rs 8,753 crore as BRGF.” Nitish has described Mukherjee’s reported move as “contrary to facts and opposed to basic pri-nciples of fiscal federalism”.

“Consequent to the bifurcation of the state, the Bihar Reorganization Act 2000 provided for the creation of a special unit under the direct charge of the deputy chairman, Planning Commission, to deal with the adverse financial impact that the bifurcation caused to the state. In the light of this provision, the Planning Commission had created grants under Rastriya Sam Vikas Yojana, which is now known as the BRGF, for development of certain infrastructures like roads and electric power supply lines. And the grants are mostly released to the central agencies,” Nitish wrote in the letter.

“It is the Centre’s prerogative to give special package to any state. We have nothing to say if Bengal gets funds. But the way the Centre has sought to justify its move by linking it with the case of Bihar is totally out of context and misplaced,” the letter read.