New Delhi:
With just days to go before elections, the battle for Bihar is getting heated. The BJP and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are in a war of words with the Prime Minister.
After the PM hit out at Nitish Kumar at a rally in Bihar's Araria district on Saturday, on central funds being misused in the state, Nitish hit back today by saying, "The tax money is disbursed. The finance commission decides how much percentage of this remains with the Centre and how much to states. This is not anybody's favour. This is their job. We have not got any aid away from the formula."
"Centrally sponsored schemes should be lesser. It should be left to the states. States are now getting a lesser percentage. Centre is getting more," he added.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley also came to Nitish's aid today by saying that the central funds are not Congress' property.
"The remark that was made yesterday - the money that the Central government collects is the tax-payer's money. People from Bihar also pay tax. Central funds are not the property of the Congress party, but the Prime Minister should have made that remark on Bihar as an economist, rather than a politician," said Jaitley.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister had said, "It is very sad that while other states are progressing, Araria and Bihar are still so underdeveloped. The Centre is giving so much money to Bihar, yet no work happens here. It is unfortunate to know that the state government is taking credit for the schemes of the Central government and their benefits are not reaching those intended." (
Read: PM addresses rally in Bihar, criticises Nitish)
Holding the past RJD governments and the current one of Nitish Kumar responsible for Bihar's plight, the Prime Minister had also said the Congress led by Sonia Gandhi alone could ensure all-round growth of the state.