PATNA: In Bihar to kickstart the poll campaign, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said politics has hurt the state's development and promised to give it a package "bigger" than Rs 50,000 crore which he had announced earlier.
Sharing dais with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had parted ways with BJP for projecting him as Prime Ministerial candidate two years back, Modi took a jibe at JD(U)'s new partner RJD chief Lalu Prasad, saying railway ministers who "came from here" after the Vajpayee government had "halted work".
"The Chief Minister just gave a detailed overview of how much damage development suffers because of politics," Modi said as he launched a power project here on his maiden visit since becoming the Prime Minister in June last year.
Referring to developmental projects initiated during the previous NDA government, he said, "The work which could have been completed during Atal ji (Behari Vajpayee's) tenure took 2015 to be finished. I totally agree with Nitish ji that if the (Lok Sabha) polls (in 2004) had taken place six months later (than April-May), the work could have been completed then only,"
Modi said Nitish Kumar, who spoke before him, has high hopes from the central government and "we are working towards fulfilling the states' needs by increasing allocation to states."
He recalled that when came to the state before last year's Lok Sabha elections, he had announced that Bihar will be given a special package of Rs 50,000 crore.
"Looking at our dreams for a prosperous Bihar, we will give a bigger package than Rs 50,000 cr. This is my promise," the Prime Minister said, adding that he will make an announcment regarding this at the right time.