India, Oct. 5 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a Rs.62,000-crore bouquet of youth and education initiatives-many focused squarely on Bihar-while cautioning that "some people" were trying to "steal" the Jan Nayak title bestowed on socialist icon Karpoori Thakur by the people of the state.

The outreach comes days before the Election Commission is expected to announce poll dates for Bihar, where assembly elections are due in the coming months. Saturday's was the latest in a spree of over a dozen initiatives and schemes announced for the state by the ruling NDA.

"Karpoori Thakur wasn't made Jan Nayak by social media trolls. He was made Jan Nayak by the people of Bihar, after observing his life," Modi said during the Kaus...