Modi prepares for crucial Bihar test

Narendra Modi's Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for poll-bound Bihar is the highest any state has got since the NDA government came to power in 2014, but it also reflects the critical role that Bihar poll results will have on national polity.

A defeat for the BJP in Bihar at the end of 2015, after the pasting in Delhi in the earlier part of the year, could reinvigorate the anti-BJP forces in the Opposition. It would also be a shot in the arm for the moribund Congress, particularly after its successful stalling of the monsoon session of Parliament. A victory will consolidate the position of not just the PM but also of his lieutenant BJP President Amit Shah.

AT A GLANCE: PACKAGES BY GOVT FOR OTHER POLL-BOUND STATES

JAMMU & KASHMIR
BJP won unprecedented 25 seats, formed coalition government with Peoples Democratic Party

• Rs 740 crore for flood victims, Rs 8,000 crore for road connectivity
• Rs 1,700-crore Kargil-Leh-Srinagar power transmission line
• Rs 60-crore waiver of interest component on a loan

JHARKHAND
BJP formed government with All Jharkhand Students' Union

• 35-kilo wheat/rice at Rs 1 to BPL families
• Rs 1,600-crore 765 Kv transmission line
• Rs 109-crore IOC oil terminal at Jasidih

MAHARASHTRA
BJP emerged the single-largest party, formed government with Shiv Sena

• Rs 4,000-crore port-based multi-product SEZ in Navi Mumbai
• Rs 1,900-crore port connectivity highway project
• Rs 1,555-crore Metro project in Nagpur

HARYANA

BJP formed its first-ever government

• 166-km section of NH-152/65