Bihar polls: PM Narendra Modi, CM Nitish Kumar race to inaugurate pending projects

PATNA: With the Election Commission likely to announce the Bihar assembly poll dates by month end, Narendra Modi and CM Nitish Kumar seem to be in a race to inaugurate as many pending projects as possible.

An example of this was on Tuesday, when Modi laid foundation stones of 11 national highway projects, besides inaugurating the 83 km Muzaffarpur-Sonbarsa two-lane road at Ara.

Kumar has hardly been outdone. Patna got its first flyover when the CM inaugurated the Rs 300 crore, 2.9 km-long Jagdeo Path Mor-Sheikhpura Mor flyover on July 21. On August 7, two galleries of the Rs 500 crore Bihar Museum were opened. Niyojan Bhavan, built at Rs 95 crore, was inaugurated along with five other projects worth over Rs 20 crore. He also laid foundation stones for Jagjivan Ram Institute of Parliamentary Studies and Political Research and Dashrath Manjhi Institute of Labour and Employment Studies buildings worth over Rs 41 crore.



On the other hand, on July 25, Modi launched the Rs 76,000 crore Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana in Patna besides dedicating the campus of IIT-Patna at Bihta to the nation. He also inaugurated Rs 340-crore Daniawan-Biharsharif new railway line, the first phase of Rs 11,000 crore Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline project and flagged off Patna-Mumbai AC Suvidha Express and Rajgir-Biharsharif-Daniawan-Fatuha train.

Political watchers believe many of the projects have been finished in a hurry, whereas some were inaugurated in half-finished state. Kumar laid the foundation stone of Aryabhatta Knowledge University campus on August 13. Even districts weren't left untouched.