Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi interacts with people at the janata durbar in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of his 100 days in office, saying: “Achhe din (good days)” did not come to Bihar.

“Bihar was ignored in the Union and railway budgets. Our state got nothing,” Manjhi said on the sidelines of his weekly janata durbar, which resumed after two months.

The BJP’s election slogan used to be “achchhe din aane wale hain (good days are round the corner).” Modi took oath as prime minister on May 26. The government completes 100 days on Tuesday.

Citing the long list of demands his predecessor Nitish Kumar had made, Manjhi said: “Till date, Bihar has not got the special category status it was promised. The Centre has not done anything on the Ganga bridge project and on irrigation. It has also not returned the Rs 1,000 crore the Bihar government spent on repair of national highways. The Centre should have a positive relation with Bihar, but this does not exist.”

He said he had hoped for a positive response from the Centre after meeting Modi personally. “I had expected a lot from the Centre, but have not got anything till date. However, I am an optimist. I will try to meet him again to discuss issues related to Bihar.”

He went on to say that Modi’s 100 days in office had not ensured anything good in the context of India either. “The government is stressing on issues like building a Ram temple at Ayodhya, dropping Article 370 from the Constitution and implementing Uniform Civil Code, which are dangerous for the country. I would give 3 out of 10 to the Modi government’s 100 days in office,” Manjhi said.

He also likened Modi to a dictator. He said: “All the time Narendra Modi issues Tughlaqi firmans (absurd orders) and tries to humiliate his colleagues. Recently, he shouted at a Union minister on his dress code. He just gives orders and listens to nobody.”

On the prime minister’s planned interaction with school children across the country on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on September 5, Manji said: “If he is addressing children of all states, except Bihar, I do not see any logic behind it. Children should not be discriminated against.”

State education minister Brishin Patel had recently said the state lacked infrastructure to ensure students watch the Prime Minister’s Teacher’s Day address live.

Manjhi also denied any bitterness between ministers and bureaucrats. At a recent function, art, culture and youth affairs minister Vinay Bihari had said the general administration department principal secretary refused to give him time to discuss the welfare of sportspersons.

London visit

The chief minister will be in London from September 21-25 to attend a function organised by the International Growth Centre at London School of Economics.