Ranchi:
Chief Ministers must not need to make repeated requests to the Centre for work in their states, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, promising seamless Centre-State cooperation in election-bound Jharkhand.
"A decision taken by our government for royalties on minerals will benefit Jharkhand by Rs. 400 crores a year. Hemant Soren didn't need to come to me for that," the PM said in Ranchi, where he inaugurated a major power project.
Chief Minister Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was on stage, having just finished a speech that could barely be heard over jeers and loud chants of "Modi, Modi". When Mr Soren was speaking, Mr Modi was seen gesturing to crowd to calm down and listen to the chief minister's speech.
Mr Modi took a dig at the previous Congress-led government saying many requests by Chief Ministers were not heeded for 10 years.
"We cannot take India forward if we overlook what states want. Our government in Delhi wants to facilitate development in each state," said Mr Modi, whose BJP hopes to extend its gains from the general elections earlier this year to the state elections due in Jharkhand in October.
He pitched development in backward Jharkhand, observing that a state with so much natural resources had "the potential to overtake Gujarat."