"People of Bihar are innocent, not stupid": RJD slams PM Modi over Bihar visit, claims schemes not being implemented

Patna (Bihar) [India], May 31 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Friday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bihar, saying that the projects which were inaugurated by the PM are not being implemented properly. Jha further claimed that many of the schemes announced were previously introduced but never executed.
"Today, you (PM Modi) have laid the foundation stone again for the same schemes which you have done twenty times, I can count each one. It does not suit the post of Prime Minister. We had said that Bihar should not be a state for labour supply. Capital is in Gujarat, and the concentration of money is there, but we did not say that the sweat and blood of workers should be supplied with Shramik trains," Jha said at a press conference in Patna.
Several leaders from the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), allied with the RJD for the upcoming Bihar elections, were also present at the briefing.
Jha raised key issues such as the demand for special status for Bihar, the need to transform the state's economic image, and the lack of visible progress.
"Honourable Prime Minister came on a two-day tour. What shall I say? 'tere aane aur tene jaane mein sadiyon ka faasla hai (there is a gap of many years with your comings and goings)....yesterday, the people of Mahagathbandan party had raised some questions, and they were about rocket science, they were about the employment of Bihar's land, progress and its special state status," Jha remarked.
"I had said that like in 2015, do not ignore Bihar. Bihar does not like that attitude and that tossed money, thrown away in which there is no reality, we don't like that but you didn't agree," he added.
Regarding reservations, Jha reiterated the demand to raise the cap to 65 per cent. He mentioned that this proposal had been made when RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was in alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
"When Tejashwi (Yadav) was with Nitish Kumar in the Mahagathbandhan, then we had talked about sixty-five per cent reservation by increasing the quantum. We know who got the proxy done in the court, but we told the Prime Minister that you removed this from the court and put it in the Ninth Schedule so it would remain safe," he said.
Jha also emphasised Bihar's repeated demand for special status and alleged that the Centre has ignored multiple letters sent by opposition leaders.
"We had written letters to PM Modi regarding special status, Leader of Opposition, the whole Mahagathbandhan wrote letters, but PM did not listen. But looking at the schemes which were inaugurated, there has just been an announcement, but it is not going up from the ground. So you are simply just cutting the same chicken again and again. Bihar is innocent, but not stupid," he said.
Hitting out at PM Modi, he said that he initially did not expect him to talk about social justice but hoped he would change his mind and listen to the opposition.
"We did not expect talk of social justice from someone who is inspired by Gowalkar's 'Bunch of Thoughts', but we thought that maybe PM has changed, and might listen to us," he said.
On Friday, PM Modi hit out at the opposition (RJD and Congress) over the issue of social justice, saying that the people who cheated Bihar the most are now talking about "social justice" for the sake of power.
PM Modi said that during the opposition's tenure, poor and deprived sections of the society had to leave Bihar, and for decades, the Dalits and tribals of the state did not have toilets. He stated that their entry into banks was also not allowed.
"Those who cheated Bihar the most, during whose tenure the poor and deprived sections of Bihar had to leave Bihar, are today the same people telling the lie of social justice to gain power. For decades, the Dalits, backward classes and tribals of Bihar did not even have toilets," PM Modi said.
PM Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation of multiple development projects worth over Rs 48,520 crore on Friday in Karakat district. (ANI)