'Pay nothing for electricity': Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announces 125 units of free power in state

Bihar: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday asserted that the decision to provide 125 units of free power in the state was "in keeping with the advice" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The JD(U) supremo made the remark at a rally in Motihari town, the headquarters of East Champaran district, where he shared the stage with the PM, who also launched projects worth more than Rs 7,000 crore on the occasion.

The longest-serving chief minister of the state, who had made the announcement on Thursday, told the public meeting that "the people will now have to pay nothing for electricity. Once sir (PM) leaves, we will be back (in Patna) and give the necessary clearance. It is for this very reason that a cabinet meeting has been called later in the day".

Kumar, who counts on the charisma of Modi to win the upcoming assembly polls and secure a fifth consecutive term in office, said, "We respect him a lot and we have been working in a manner that is in keeping with his advice".

The PM, with whom the CM has shared a chequered relationship over the years, responded to the remark by folding his hands.

The populist move, notwithstanding the NDA's stated principle of being against freebies, has been seen as an attempt to blunt the INDIA bloc's promise of "200 units of free electricity", in the event of the RJD-led coalition coming to power.

Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary, a BJP leader who holds the finance portfolio, has defended the move, saying, "It is not a free dole. It is a 100 per cent subsidy that the government will be providing".

Kumar also thanked Modi for "taking time off to visit different parts of Bihar almost every month".

Notably, the PM's tour of Motihari was his sixth visit to the state this year and, according to Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, his "53rd since assuming power in 2014".

Kumar was visibly moved by the attention his state was getting from the PM, as he wound up his address saying, "It is a big thing. I would like to thank him, and let us have a round of applause for him. So all of those who have come here, please get up".

He also thanked the PM for the plethora of Bihar-specific announcements in this year's Union budget and for letting the state host the "Khelo India" tournament earlier this year.

Without mentioning the RJD-Congress combine by name, Kumar made it a point to underscore "governance began in earnest in Bihar only after we took over. Those in power earlier were not even able to expend the funds properly. There was no development, no infrastructure".