Patna, Jan 10 (IANS): Bihar Rural Development Minister Shrawan Kumar on Wednesday said that the Bihar model was adopted by several states in the country while no one followed the Uttar Pradesh (UP) model.

“Bihar did not follow the UP model. In fact, no one follows the UP model in the country. Many states in the country adopted the Bihar model,” the minister said.

He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bihar has become the first state where power and water supply has reached every household in rural and urban areas of the state.

“Bihar is the first state where caste census was successfully conducted. We are also going to provide houses to 94,000 landless people in the state apart from stipends to the unemployed youth and women,” he said.

He said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has done work to empower women in the state which was also appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Over Ram Mandir's inauguration on January 22, Kumar said BJP is hijacking Lord Ram but we respect every religion.

“Those who believe in Hinduism go to the temple, Muslims go to mosques, Sikhs go to Gurudwaras while Christians go to Churchs. No one is stopped in our state. Everyone is free here to practice his or her religion,” Kumar said.

He also said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will do rallies in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and other states in coming days.