Arun Jaitley hints at a special package by Centre for poll-bound Bihar, says announcement likely soon

California: Bracing up for the big fight in Bihar assembly elections, the Central government is likely to announce a special package for the state. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has hinted that a financial assistance is likely to be given to the state soon.

"I don't use words like package, etc. Bihar is a state with a lot of potential. It is a state which has lot less industries, which has human resource, agriculture. Therefore for an equatable development of the country, Bihar needs to be supported," he said.

He also claimed that the Centre is only focusing on development and does not take decisions with an eye on polls. "Centre will go all out to support Bihar. When we go out to support a state, we do not see who rules the state. The states which require some amount of support from the Centre, we must provide it to them, like we assisted West Bengal, Odisha," he said.

Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said that as the "PM has repeatedly mentioned and even I have repeatedly asserted that eastern states are relatively less developed and must get adequate support from us," he said.

Refusing to divulge any further details about the financial assistance, Jaitley said, "why don't you wait fr a few weeks."

Claiming that Bihar has a huge potential, Jaitley said that the state needs to be supported. "The government will go all out in supporting Bihar," he said.

Political parties have started to react to the development calling the Centre's proposed move just a face-saver ahead of the Bihar assembly polls.

"The BJP is trying to scale down the level of defeat that they have to face. We have to see if this package is just noise or has some substance. The old cadre of the BJP is worried as they don't see any coherent strategy ahead of the polls. They want to minimise the level of defeat in Bihar. They don't want another Delhi in Bihar," RJD leader Manoj Jha said.

The elections in Bihar are being seen as much sought after, with parties like the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal United, Samajwadi Party and many others coming together collectively to defeat the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.