Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday questioned the intention of the Central government for not including any urban centre from Bihar in the list of smart cities, which was released by Union
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday questioned the intention of the Central government for not including any urban centre from Bihar in the list of smart cities, which was released by Union minister for urban development Venkaiah Naidu.
Accusing the Centre for not including Bihar in the list despite the fact that the state government had sent a proposal to the Centre fulfilling all required norms, he said, the state was ignored as “there was complete andher nagri at the Centre”.
“We had sent a proposal fulfilling all required norms but they refused entry to our state into the list of smart city. This shows how serious they are about development. There is a huge difference in what they say and do. This is the reason why I say that there is complete andher nagri in the Central government,” Mr Kumar said in Patna on Saturday.
He also reacted sharply against the BJP for holding the Grand Secular Alliance government responsible for non-inclusion of the state into the list of smart cities. He said, “It was entirely the Centre’s decision to keep Bihar out of the list and my government has nothing to do with it.”
Mounting an attack on the Centre for including mostly the BJP or NDA-ruled states, Bihar deputy chief minister Tejaswi Yadav questioned the intention of the Central government for ignoring Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Through a hard-hitting tweet message he said, “No city from UP, Bihar and West Bengal included in the smart city list. PM talks about Team India and boycotts large, important and populous states.”
Mr Yadav, while accusing the Centre for insulting Bihar and other states which were not included in the list of smart cities with the motive of “vendetta politics”, also blamed Union ministers for not promoting their state.
“Collectively these good for nothing influential 116 MPs and 20 ministers couldn’t get even a single smart city for the people who elected them,” Mr Tejaswi Yadav said through a tweet. Some of the leaders associated with the Grand Secular Alliance, particularly the RJD, even raised questions on the inclusion of three centres from “BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh”.
