MUZAFFARPUR, July 25 - Launching the poll campaign in high-stakes Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today attacked former BJP ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of �back-stabbing�, and found faults with the �DNA� of the JD(U) leader, whom he flayed for associating with Lalu Prasad.
On his maiden visit to Bihar since becoming Prime Minister in May last year, Modi slammed Kumar and Prasad, using the controversy surrounding �snake� and �poison� remarks made by them respectively apparently in the context of each other, and said they should not force the people of the state to �consume this poison�.
Reminding Kumar that he had once accused Prasad of �jungle raj�, Modi said the JD(U) leader was now trying to drag the state back to such days and asked the voters to reject such people as they �cannot be trusted� again and elect NDA with a two-thirds majority for changing Bihar�s fate.
He said politics had hurt the state�s development and promised a special package �bigger� than Rs 50,000 crore, which he had announced earlier.
The package will be unveiled after the Monsoon Session of Parliament as his �lips are sealed till then�, he said after launching projects worth over Rs 5,000 crore in Patna.
Addressing a public rally here later, he said Kumar practices �political untouchability� as he recalled how the JD(U) leader had cancelled a dinner after inviting him and had snapped ties with the BJP because of his dislike towards him two years back.
He said Kumar had �strangulated� the state�s progress just because of his dislike for him and asked voters whether they would support such �DNA� by �forgiving� them.
�We cannot leave Bihar in the hands of such elements. We won�t let jungle raj to return to Bihar. You should take a pledge on this,� Modi said.
He said that during the last polls, Kumar had asserted that if he was unable to provide electricity to entire Bihar, he would not come to ask for votes again in 2015.
�Electricity has not come, but he has come to ask for votes. He betrayed your trust. Forget me, he even back-stabbed you. Such people cannot be trusted again,� Modi said. � PTI
