Jamui: Lashing out at the Centre for discriminating against Bihar by slashing funds under various Central schemes, senior JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said he will hit the streets from January 15 next to galvanise party workers as part of the preparations for next year's Assembly elections in the state.
The Central government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was out to stifle development by drastically slashing funds under Central flagship schemes like MGNREGA and IAY as part of its discriminatory tactics against the JD(U) government in Bihar, Kumar said at his final Sampark Yatra rally at Sri Krishna Singh stadium here.
"The Centre has committed fraud on the people of Bihar by slashing funds meant for the labour component under the MGNREGA," Kumar said.
He said the NDA government at the Centre had also gone back on its predecessor's commitment to sanction a Rs 12,500 crore special package to Bihar and it was not being released due to "vindictive politics" of the NDA government towards the state government.
Turning the heat on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former Bihar chief minister recalled that Modi had promised to provide special package and special attention during his general election campaigns earlier this year, but turned back on Bihar and its people since voted to power.
Kumar also played audio clips of speeches made by Modi at various rallies in Bihar to buttress his point. He criticised his erstwhile deputy Sushil Kumar Modi and the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Nandkishore Yadav, saying the two BJP leaders were party to the then NDA government's decision to repair NH roads in Bihar at the cost of Rs 970 crore during the first term of his rule, but went back on their words about pursuing the matter with the Centre for the refund due to the state.
Kumar hit out at the Centre on the issues of black money and freezing of recruitment in government services and said the people, particularly youths, felt cheated as promised jobs were not delivered by the Modi government.
With the defeat in the general elections still rankling him, the former chief minister conceded his party had failed to match the Modi-led BJP's campaign.
"We failed to match BJP's blitzkrieg in the elections and lost badly," Kumar surmised and went on to say he resigned as chief minister on the ground that he had lost the trust of the people with the ruling JD(U) winning only two seats against 20 it held earlier.
With state Assembly polls knocking the doors in Bihar, Kumar urged the people to take guard against the propaganda by BJP and RSS outfits on diverse issues.
Referring to Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's controversial remarks and the raging debate on conversion, Kumar charged the BJP with going to any extent to polarise the masses for electoral benefits.
With his 'Sampark Yatra' coming to an end with a meeting with party workers at Jamui, Kumar threw light on his future course of action, saying he would launch the second stage of mass mobilisation campaign in all Assembly constituencies next month.
Observing that party cadres' detachment with the JD(U) government was the root cause of defeat in the general elections, he added efforts have been made to bridge the gap between the government and party workers to ensure that the two worked in sync.
