Sanjay Singh and Sushil Kumar Modi

Patna, Aug. 27: The bypoll result has turned the JDU more aggressive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre.

So far, the JDU and its allies’ attack on the ruling party at the Centre was confined to the “secularism vs communalism” issue. But the party now wants to go beyong calling the party at the Centre “communal”. It now wants to highlight the “raw deal” Bihar was getting from the NDA regime and other issues.

Member of legislative council and JDU spokesperson Sanjay Singh issued a letter asking BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi 10 questions.

The first question is related to the Narendra Modi government’s failure to accord Bihar special status category and give it the special package promised during the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP has been saying special status and package would be given to a “deserving state government” which knows how to spend money.

“Does Sushil Kumar Modi mean special package would not be given if the state does not elect a BJP government,” Sanjay asked.

The letter also pointed out that Sushil Kumar had remained quiet even as the Centre cut plan size money for Bihar from Rs 42,443 crore to Rs 41,841 crore.

The JDU wondered why Prime Minister Modi did not take up issues related to floods in Bihar during his recent visit to Nepal.

Singh listed the number of train accidents and casualties in recent times and pointed out that the Modi government’s Rs 2 lakh compensation for families of those killed, down from the earlier Rs 4 lakh.

“The Modi government has failed to take cognisance of the Bihar government demand for Rs 900 crore to repair national highways in Bihar. The state government spent the amount from its own resources,” Singh said, pointing out that the BJP state unit was silent and did not use its influence to get the amount from the Centre.

The party also pointed out that under the Modi government, allotment of funds under Indira Awaas Yojana had been slashed.

The party raised the stiff tariff hike in railway fares and the fact that tomato was now costlier than petrol in India. It attacked the Centre for failure to generate employment opportunities for the youth, for not taking on corruption and not doing anything positive for the minority community.

“It is time to broaden our attack on the BJP. Just labelling it as communal won’t do. There is a long way to go before the next Assembly polls (towards the end of 2015) and we should go for a sustained attack,” remarked a senior JDU leader.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister was himself in the habit of addressing questions to the ruling JDU after parting ways with it in June16, 2013, which they marked as “vishwasghat din” (betrayal day).

On vishwasghat din this year, Modi had addressed three questions to his former boss, former chief minister Nitish Kumar. His first question was whether people voted the JDU-BJP alliance in 2010 to make Jitan Ram Manjhi the chief minister. His second question was whether people voted for the alliance to run a government with Congress and RJD support. Lastly, he asked if people voted for Nitish to allow him to tie up with Lalu, whom the BJP equates with jungle raj.