New Delhi, July 9 (UNI): Janata Dal MPs from Bihar today alleged in the Lok Sabha that the "Bihar package" mentioned in the General Budget presented yesterday was an "old announcement" of the erstwhile NDA regime.
Raising the issue during zero hour, Rajiv Ranjan Singh said then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had announced Rs 4,000 crore to Bihar under the National Equalisation Development Scheme.
He said the state had used one-fourth of it, and the Centre had not released the balance.
"It is the balance amount, which (Finance Minister P) Chidambaram has now announced as a new package for the state," Singh claimed and wanted to get the matter clarified.
But Chidambaram did not respond despite repeated request from the member and later Prabhunath Singh.
Former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar also joined the issue and asked Chidambaram to clarify the UPA government's position on the matter.
"Failure to do so would mean that it was the old package announced by the NDA government," he maintained.
