CHAPRA, Sept 21:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today exuded confidence that the next Government at the Centre will have to grant special status to Bihar as that Government cannot be formed without the support of 40 MPs of the state.
“It is important that you (electorate of Bihar) should elect your MPs who steadfastly stand for special status demand for Bihar as their support will be key for formation of next government at the Centre,” he said at the ‘Adhikar Sammelan’.
The next Government at the Centre will have to grant special status to Bihar as it will be dependent upon 40 MPs from the state, Kumar said.
He, however, did not elaborate whether the JD(U), spearheading campaign on special status issue on its own, will contest the next Parliamentary elections alone and seek to win all 40 seats to play a crucial role in formation of the next Government at the Centre.
The chief minister’s remarks about 40 Bihar MPs playing crucial role in next government at the Centre after 2014 Parliamentary polls was apparently aimed at diluting his firm stand two days ago at another public meeting at Betiah that he would support anyone in formation of the government at the Centre if it grants special category status to Bihar.
He also hit out at his arch rival, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, for deriding the ongoing campaign by the JD(U) on the special category status issue and said Prasad had opportunity to pursue the matter when his party was in power in the state.
Pushing for special status, the chief minister said the state had its own set of perennial problems, like flood and drought and when both occurred simultaneously in occasional years, it had a crippling impact on the state’s economy.
Bihar has the highest population density and population pressure on limited land, besides development and infrastructure deficit and all these negative factors affecting growth of the state made it a fit case for grant of special status, Kumar said.
He urged the people of Saran district and rest of the state to turn out in large numbers at the ‘Adhikar’ rally to be held in Patna on November 4 to send a strong message to the Centre for grant of special status to Bihar to enable it to pursue its aspirations for development and prosperity.
Hitting out at RJD chief, Kumar said instead of articulating interests of Bihar, Prasad was busy organising ‘lathi rally’ to showcase his political might.
“Jin logon ko Bihar se itna muhabbat hai unhe lathi rally karne ki kya jararut thee (why did these people take out lathi rallies when they had time to showcase their love for the state and fight for its rightful demands),” he said.
Kumar also took a dig at Prasad for donating buses to the academic institutions in his Parliamentary constituency Saran apparently in a bid to ape the state government’s bicycle scheme for school students in Bihar.
He said he had launched the bicycle scheme to motivate the beneficiary students (both boys and girls) to attend classes and strive to do well in academics and career and the results were there for all to see as the measures have ensured socio-economic empowerment among women, besides improving health of the beneficiaries.
However, the RJD supremo’s bus gift to academic institutions was ill-conceived as no arrangements have been made for fuel and maintenance of these vehicles and lack of transparency in process for appointment of drivers, Kumar said. (PTI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel