NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a sharp attack on Bihar’s main opposition party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Lalu Yadav and said that the progress in the state started when the “jungle raj” ended. Addressing a rally in Bihar’s Karakat, PM Modi said that a new terminal building at Patna Airport, a Greenfield corridor, and new bridges have been inaugurated.

“Peace, security, education, and development will now reach every village without any hindrance. Friends, when there is security and peace, only then do new paths of development open up. Here in Bihar, under the leadership of Nitish ji, when the government of jungle raj came to an end, Bihar also started progressing on the path of development,” he said. “The days of broken highways, poor railways, and limited flight connectivity are now part of history. Those backward times are behind us. Friends, there was a time when Bihar had only one airport — in Patna. But now, the Darbhanga airport has also started operating. Today, you can get flights from here to cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru,” PM Modi added. He also talked about several projects that has been launched in Bihar, giving a boost to the state. “For a long time, the people of Bihar had been demanding that the terminal of Patna airport be modernized. That demand has now been fulfilled. Yesterday evening, I had the privilege of inaugurating the new terminal building at Patna Airport. This new terminal can now handle 1 crore (10 million) passengers. An investment of Rs 1,400 crore is also being made in the Bihta Airport. Friends, today a network of four-lane and six-lane roads is being laid across Bihar. From Patna to Buxar, from Gaya to Dobhi, from Patna to Bodh Gaya, Patna–Arrah–Sasaram — Greenfield corridors are being built rapidly. New bridges are also being constructed over all the major rivers, including the Ganga, Son, Gandak, and Kosi,” he said.

Bihar is bracing up for the 2025 state assembly elections. In the upcoming election, BJP and JDU is again back to fight with other parties. There are several speculation that Nitish might not become the chief minister again or possibly he wanted to push his son for this. There are other strong contenders like Tejashvi Yadav and Chirag paswan who can also become the next chief minister.