Patna,(BiharTimes): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the sun rises from the east and sets on the west, but some people want it to rise from the west.

Addressing an ASSOCHAM meet in New Delhi he said that efforts are on to blow westerly wind when the fact is that the east has its own great tradition and past.

Without taking the name of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, the Bihar chief minister chose the occasion to attack him and pick holes in his speeches.

Referring to Modi’s Hunkar Rally speech he once again said that Taxila is not in Bihar, but it is Vikramshila, which is in Bihar. The state has produced many great men and would not be affected by the wind blowing from the west.

On Modi’s prime ministerial ambition Nitish said it is being projected as if everything, from the border problems with China, Pakistan and Bangladesh, to growth, would be solved by a magic wand.

He did not leave the opportunity to take a dig at the RJD chief, Lalu Prasad Yadav, who, according to him, is behaving as if he had gone to jail while taking part in freedom movement.

Much to the surprise of many Nitish departed from the speech––which otherwise dealt with the invesemtn environment in the state––to attack his political opponents.

He said that Bihar has eight per cent of the country’s population. “But our contribution in GDP is just 2.9 per cent. If we start contributing as per our population just imagine what would be the growth rate of India. We will leave China behind,” he added.

He reiterated the demand for special category status for Bihar and said that the inclusive model of governance would be made key issues in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The chief minister said that the demand for special status not only had the backing of the people of Bihar but also from an expert committee headed by the current Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan.

He criticized the Congress- led UPA government for putting the Rajan committee report in the cold storage.

He claimed that the special status would enable Bihar to attract more investment because of tax concessions.

In his welcome speech ASSOCHAM President Rana Kapoor said with Bihar being power sufficient by 2015, investment was expected to increase. He sought from the Chief Minister special schemes for the small and medium enterprises by developing clusters and common facilities