Lalu-Nitish pushed 'development' away from Bihar: Amit Shah

Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) President Amit Shah on Saturday said that Bihar has lagged behind other states as far as development is concerned due to the twenty five year rule of the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Rashtriya Janata Dal(RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.

"You gave fifteen years to Lalu, ten years to Nitish but nothing happened, so I appeal you to give just five years to Narendra Modi and we will turn Bihar into a most developed state in the country. A large number of civil servants are from Bihar. Bihar has the potential but it never got the opportunity. Only Bharatiya Janata Party can give such a platform to the Biharis", Shah said while addressing a rally here.

Shah also said that RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav is dividing the society in the name of caste.

"Lalu Prasad made a statement in the beginning of the election. He said that this election is between higher caste and backward caste people and I am saying that this election is between the backward Bihar and developed Bihar. It's up to you to decide whether you want a backward Bihar or a developed Bihar," he added.

Highlighting his party's agenda of development, Shah further said that the Biharis were forced to move out of the state in search of 'padhai', 'kamai' and 'dawai' (education, jobs and medicines).

He pointed out that all the states except Bihar have either developed or have moved ahead on the path of development.

"There are BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. All these states have developed, but there is no development in Bihar as yet," said Shah.

"You will have to change the government for changing your BIMARU identity," he added.

The BJP president also thanked the people of Bihar for helping the BJP to form the government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

"After coming to power, Prime Minister Modi started formulating a strategy for the development of Bihar and allocated a development package of Rs 1.25 crores for overall development of the state," Shah said.

"The development package announced by the Modi Government is for the people of Bihar : for the youth, women, farmers of Bihar," he added.

The first two phases of the Bihar Assembly elections have already been completed while the third phase is scheduled for the 28th of this month.

57 percent voting was recorded in the first phase and 55 percent was recorded in the second phase of the Assembly Elections.

The fourth phase will be held on the November 1 while the final phase will take place on the 5th of next month.

The counting of votes will be taken up on the November 8.