PM Narendra Modi announced a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for Bihar at a rally in Arrah.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched a BJP government for Bihar at an election rally, reeling off statistics that he said proved there is "jungle raj" in the state.
Riots were up 72 per cent, murders were up 46 per cent and the number of serious crimes were up by a third between January and June this year in Bihar, the Prime Minister alleged, saying he had got his statistics off a Bihar government website.
"Statistics show there is trouble ahead," PM Modi warned and added, "On every parameter, the life of the common man is at peril."
The BJP, the PM said, was the only answer. "In this election do you want to stop these murders and riots? You just have to elect a strong government. You just have to stand by us," the Prime Minster said, to a crowd of about 70,000 in Bihar's Saharsa.
In assembly elections due in Bihar by November, the BJP takes on an alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal United, Lalu Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.
In earlier elections, the BJP and Nitish Kumar fought on the same side and for years accused Lalu Yadav of unleashing "jungle raj" or lawlessness in his party's rule in the state.
Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav, bitter rivals for years have been brought together by a common need to defeat PM Modi's BJP, which almost swept last year's national election months after it was dumped by Mr Kumar.
Nitish Kumar, who ended that alliance when it became clear that Mr Modi would be projected by the BJP as its candidate for prime minister, has been the chief target of the PM's attacks in his election rallies in Bihar.