The union government has rejected the demand for special status to the state of Bihar, dealing a big blow to Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (U) which is a key ally of the BJP.
Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Jhanjharpur Lok Sabha MP Ramprit Mandal in a written reply that “the Special Category Status for plan assistance was granted in the past by the National Development Council (NDC) to some States that were characterized by a number of features necessitating special consideration.
These features included (i) hilly and difficult terrain, (ii) low population density and/or sizeable share of tribal population, (iii) strategic location along borders with neighboring countries, (iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness and (v) non-viable nature of State finances.”
“The decision was taken based on an integrated consideration of all the factors listed above and the peculiar situation of the State. Earlier, the request of Bihar for Special Category Status was considered by an Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) which submitted its Report on 30th March 2012.
The IMG came to the finding that based on existing NDC criteria, the case for Special Category Status for Bihar is not made out,” the minister explained.
The JD(U) demand special status for Bihar once again during the all-party meet yesterday, right before the budget session of the parliament.
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The BJP won 240 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, less than the majority mark of 272. It is dependent on support from JD(U) and Telugu Desam Party, who together account for 28 members in the lower house.
Interestingly, Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP has also demanded a special status for Andhra Pradesh, which was bifurcated in 2014 and a new state of Telangana was carved out.
Meanwhile, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) took a swipe at the NDA ally, saying Bihar under Nitish Kumar won’t get special status
“Bihar ko nahin milega Vishesh rajya ka darja (Bihar will not get special state status!),” he wrote on social media handle.
“Nitish Kumar and JDU can now comfortably enjoy power at the Centre and continue doing hypocritical politics on ‘special state status’!” he added.
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