Currently, Congress is partnering an alliance government with JMM and RJD in the state.
Earlier, it had tied up with Babulal Marandi's JVM (P) and had also supported independent Madhu Koda's government.
Modi also took a jibe at RJD chief Lalu Prasad, saying, “There is a leader in Bihar now, who used to say Jharkhand will be created after my death. Where is he now.
“The message is that if there is strength in the government that is sitting in Delhi and its leader is decisive, decisions take place. Jharkhand is its living example.”
Prasad, who was the Chief Minister of Bihar when Jharkhand was created in 2000, has forged an alliance with Congress in Bihar for 2014 Lok Sabha polls and is hitting out at Modi on the issue of communalism in this election in which BJP has high hopes from the Hindi state.
Modi said that had Congress been occupying the seat of power in Delhi, “perhaps Jharkhand would not have born”. Noting that despite having mines, the people are poor here, Modi said, “This is because for some leaders, for some governments, mines are huge opportunities for corruption. They did not eschew even from coal theft.”
Attacking the UPA government on corruption issue, he said that whenever there is any talk about mines in Delhi, “the Environment Ministry used to put obstacles. You must have heard about income tax, sales tax. There used to be a Jayanthi tax in Delhi.
“If one has to get environmental clearance, he has to pay the money. Files were not cleared without making payment. So coal extraction was not happening because money was not paid.” Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Modi attacked him for his pitch to fight corruption, saying, “Nothing happens by merely making promises. Corruption is checked if intentions are clear. There should be strength in the leader.”
