Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and PM Modi have been involved in a high decibel face off in the run up to the assembly elections.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar says he will send a thank you note to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but only when his state receives anything more than a promise.
PM Modi has pledged a mega package in central aid of Rs 1.25 lakh crore for Bihar and Mr Kumar was responding today to the BJP's criticism that he has not thanked the Prime Minister.
"The BJP is saying I did not say thanks. Let us get something then we will say thank you. Or should I just say thank you for the sake of it?" Mr Kumar said at a public function in Vaishali district
He also said, "Don't get taken in by what Jumla Babu is saying. Look at this special package... Till date, we have not received any letter from the government informing Bihar that we are getting a special package... I am telling you, this is just a Jumla, else they would have given us detailed break up of what they were giving."
Opposition parties like Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United (JDU) have used the term "Jumla" or gimmick to target the PM ever since BJP chief Amit Shah used the word while talking about the party's election promise of bringing back black or untaxed money parked in foreign banks. Mr Shah was widely seen to have scored an own goal.
Mr Kumar today also accused PM Modi of turning an official government function into a political rally when he announced the big financial package for Bihar, where elections will be held by November.
The chief minister is leading a coalition that takes on the BJP in the high-stake Bihar election and has engaged in a bitter battle of words with PM Modi.
On August 18, the PM made a scathing attack on Mr Kumar while announcing the package for Bihar, accusing him of making the people of the state suffer because of his arrogance.
The BJP and JDU United were alliance partners for 17 years till 2013, when Mr Kumar objected to the BJP placing Mr Modi at the heart of its campaign for the national election. The move paid off spectacularly for the BJP, which won an outsized victory.