The Centre on Monday announced that Bihar would not be granted special category status.
Minister of State (MoS) for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply to JD(U) MP Ramprit Mandal’s question in Lok Saba, stated that the special category status for plan assistance was previously granted by the National Development Council (NDC) to certain States that with features necessitating special consideration.
Status denied
“The decision was based on an integrated consideration of all 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 March 30, 2012. The IMG concluded that based on the existing NDC criteria, the case for Special Category Status for Bihar is not made out,” Pankaj Chaudhary wrote.
Opposition Outrage
Immediately after, the opposition launched a strong attack on Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar, demanding his resignation for failing to secure the long-standing demand for special category status to pull the state out of backwardness.
RJD founder Lalu Prasad took a jibe at the JD(U) leader and said, “Nitish Kumar appears to have compromised Bihar’s aspirations and the trust of its people for the sake of power. He had promised to secure special status for Bihar, and now that the Centre has denied it, he should resign.”
Seconding Lalu Prasad, Bihar Congress Chief and Member of Parliament Akhilesh Prasad Singh said, “Nitish Kumar has been raising this issue ever since became CM. “..If there is no such provision, amend the provisions. You are in power, why are you misleading people? The Government of India should take this decision at the earliest, in the interest of Bihar.
Political Quandary
BJP’s allies from Bihar are in a tight spot over the government’s stand since this a key political issue that people voted for the BJP and the JDU in the just-held Lok Sabha elections. With 12 MPs, JDU is the third-largest partner of the NDA after the BJP and the TDP, which has 16 MPs, is seeking financial assistance, leveraging the fact that the central government’s survival depends on their support.
A similar demand exists from the TDP for the reconstruction of Andhra Pradesh.
JD(U) MP Devesh Chandra Thakur said, “Demand for special status will be there in future as well ...How will the State develop and how we will get investments, these aspects need to be addressed by the central government...” Even during the national executive meeting of the JDU, the MP of another Bihar ally of the BJP, LJP (RV), Shambhavi Choudhary, attempted a balancing act as she said that the term ‘special status’ was used until the Planning Commission, the earlier avatar of Niti Aayog was in existance, by indicating that at least special package was required for development of Bihar.
“After the formation of NITI Aayog, no State was granted anything under Special Category Status but States have definitely received special package that would speed up development. We are all public representatives, we have to be the voice of the people. It is our duty to make the voice of the people reach Parliament. It is our demand and we will keep demanding it,” she said.
“We have a lot of hopes with the upcoming Budget... How Bihar has stood strongly with the NDA, NDA too would stand strong with Bihar in the time to come and Bihar would receive special package,” Choudhary added.