Patna, Sept. 26: Nitish Kumar today lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the latter's failed promises and announced his seven-point formula to take Bihar on the "new height" of development as he launched the election campaign of the JDU-led Grand Alliance at Biarauli - part of Kalyanpur Assembly seat in Samastipur district.
Addressing the crowd at the karmabhoomi of his and Lalu Prasad's mentor and socialist patriarch, Karpoori Thakur, Nitish unveiled his seven-point formula for the state - unemployment allowance worth Rs 1,000 per month to youth between 20 and 25 years of age to help them find jobs, credit card of Rs 4 lakh to the students who have passed Plus Two level for higher studies, 35 per cent reservation to women in all government jobs, power supply in all villages in the next two years, drinking water supplies in all households, building of roads and drains up to each and every house and toilets in every home.
"He (Modi) specifically promised to deposit Rs 15 to 20 lakh each out of the black money stashed in foreign banks in everyone's accounts, create jobs for millions of youths and provide special category status and special assistance to Bihar," Nitish said, adding: "After becoming Prime Minister, he has forgotten every promise that he had made and is now coming with new jumlas (hoaxes) to fool the people."
"The Prime Minister knows how to fool the people by making false promises and securing their votes. I do not know anything other than serving you day in and day out. In the 2014 elections, you (people) had the election for Delhi in your mind. Now, it is the state election," Nitish made an impassioned appeal to voters of Kalyanpur, which has JDU's Maheshwar Hajari as the Grand Alliance nominee.
Describing the Rs 1.25 lakh crore special package announced by the Prime Minister as "dhokha (fraud)", Nitish said: "We have got unassailable proof to say 87 per cent of what the PM has dubbed as special package is made up of old schemes. The announcement is another example of jhansa (fooling) to people which the latter must be cognisant too."
The representatives of the Congress and RJD were on the dais with Nitish who elaborated: "The JDU-RJD-Congress alliance is solid and strong. Without any fuss, we declared the seats in our share on August 12 itself. I have come to you after declaring all the candidates of the Grand Alliance. On the other hand, the BJP-led NDA partners are still squabbling on their share of seats."
CM aspirant jinx
As the process of the five-phase Assembly polls has got underway, it has become increasingly clear that the chief ministerial aspirants were shy of themselves joining the poll fray.
In fact, the last four Assembly elections have thrown a trend of the chief ministerial aspirants keeping themselves away from the electoral arena. Nitish became the chief minister in 2005 when he was an MP of the Lok Sabha. Once elected as the chief minister, Nitish became a member of the Legislative Council and has continued as the chief minister without becoming a member of the Assembly.
Same is the case with the BJP-led NDA too. Though the BJP - largest component of the NDA, which will get a chance to have its CM if the alliance wins the elections - has not declared its candidate for the position, it is likely to have its face in Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, as the CM.
Sushil, like Nitish, had become the deputy chief minister in 2005, quitting as the MP from Bhagalpur and becoming an MLC. After that, Sushil, who has a unique record to have not faced defeat in any of the elections he has so far contested, has not hit the field of any direct election in the past 11 years.
The trend is at variance with former chief ministers. For instance, Karpoori Thakur too was an MP when his Janata Party came to power in 1977 and elected him as its CM. Thakur got the Phulparas seat in Samastipur district vacated and contested the by-election to continue as the CM.
Lalu too was an MP when he became the CM in 1990. Initially, he became an MLC but in the next elections in 1995 contested the Assembly polls from Raghopur to become CM in his second term. His wife, Rabri Devi too won the Raghopur seat twice to become and continue as the CM.
An expert on Bihar affairs and senior vernacular journalist, Surendra Kishore, who served as secretary to Karpoori Thakur in the 1970s, said: "Though there is no constitutional obstacle to have a CM from the Legislative Council in a state, which has Upper House, it looks incongruous that the CM is not a direct representative of the people. Earlier, CMs valued the spirit of their position. The leader of the ruling party, which is responsible to the Assembly, must be its member."
