Jaitley criticises Congress, RJD for Bihar's backwardness

Slamming Congress and RJD for Bihar's backwardness, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Friday accused them of entering into a "secret pact" to fight the ongoing assembly polls separately and join hands later.

Slamming Congress and RJD for Bihar's backwardness, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Friday accused them of entering into a "secret pact" to fight the ongoing assembly polls separately and join hands later.

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"Since 2000, the country has watched Congress being the tail of the RJD-led government in Bihar and subsequently, RJD being a tail of the Congress-led government at the Centre," he told reporters in Patna.

"Whatever happened during the period of RJD-Congress rule is now no mystery ... Ever since coming to power in November 2005, NDA had caused a directional change, the results of which are manifest in the development of the state," he said.

Describing the NDA leadership under Nitish Kumar and S K Modi as a big asset for the state, Jaitley claimed the trend in the first round of voting yesterday had generated enthusiasm among the people. "We expect the positive campaign will lead to NDA staging a comeback with a comfortable majority."

Ridiculing the Congress for contesting the elections from all the 243 assembly seats in Bihar, Jaitley, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said "Congress has turned a fringe party in Bihar.

"The people have lost faith in the Congress ... Its leaders are campaigning without an agenda for Bihar ... It is the party which has failed to check the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities and run out of ideas for tackling issues related to internal security, Jammu and Kashmir and CWG corruption," he said.