Patna, Sept. 30: Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav today appealed to the media to cooperate with him, not favour him, so that ?justice? is done to Bihar.

?Together, we all will construct a new Bihar. The state?s image has taken a beating. It is being compared with Jammu and Kashmir. Your cooperation is needed. We (the truncated UPA of which the RJD is a part) will work hard and development will be the main election agenda,? Laloo Prasad said while releasing his party?s list of 51 candidates for the first phase.

Coming from the RJD chief, who has variously been accused of ignoring development during his party?s 15-year rule in the state, these words came as a big surprise but Laloo Prasad said he had always stood for the development of Bihar.

?Dilli ka khazana Bihar ke liye khula hain (Delhi?s coffers are open for Bihar). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is committed to making a difference in the state. The NDA government gave Bihar a raw deal. That will no longer happen,? a much-mellowed and smiling Laloo Prasad said.

The RJD president even offered advice on how newspapers should carry the list of his party?s candidates tomorrow. He said the list should be published as a vertical chart with constituency numbers, names of candidates and those of the seats appearing in parallel columns.

The local press contingent, quite used to Laloo Parsed?s hard ways, was pleasantly surprised at the change of approach.

?This is so unlike him but we all probably know why he is doing this. He is not unpredictable, he knows what is to be done at a given point of time,? said a news agency correspondent who has been shadowing the politician for over a decade.

The pleasing words did not, however, deter Laloo Prasad from launching his customary attack on what he most often calls ?firkaparast takat?, roughly translated as ?fascist forces?.