Demand for special status of Bihar expedited, says JD(U)

The JD(U) has taken a decision to press for the demand of special category status to Bihar with the NDA Government and likely to mount pressure on the BJP which has preferred to keep silence on the issue and its leaders neither supporting nor opposing the demand which is close to the heart of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. It is widely believed that Nitish wanted to put moral pressure on the BJP top brass before the 2019 Lok Sabha election and bargain for the seat adjustment.

After dashing a letter to the 15th Finance Commission last week, the JD(U) leaders decided to make the demand more vigorously. The senior party leaders, who met here on Sunday under party chief Nitish, though did not say this demand could be their poll plank but asserted that this was their old demand and the party would continue pressing for it in the larger interest of Bihar and its people.

JD(U) secretary general K C Tyagi said, “We have decided to further push our demand for special status. A new strategy will soon be chalked out and a committee has been constituted involving Pawan K Varma, Harivansh and me.” He admitted that the movement got slowed down in recent times but added that it has once again been accelerated and the party would meet the 15th Finance Commission when it would visit Patna in second week of July.

The Nitish led party has been spearheading the movement for the past one decade and it collected over one crore signatures which were submitted to the President a few years ago. But ironically, the BJP never clarified its stand on this demand. When the JD(U) was pressing the then UPA Government to concede the demand the saffron party despite being an ally of Nitish remained indifferent. The BJP also did not participate in the two rallies JD(U) had organized in Delhi and Patna. When asked about what was the stand of the BJP, most of the leaders of the party avoid a direct reply. They say that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an economic package on which work was going on and some say there was no longer any provision to grant special category status to any State. None of them want to come on record.

Recently the LJP came in vocal support of this demand and its chief Ram Vilas Paswan said it was justified demand for the progress of Bihar. He called on BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi on Sunday and apart from other issues talked about this demand also.

The NDA has claimed that it was united in Bihar and all the allies would contest with honourable seat sharing formula. Apprehensions are that parties might go for hard bargain for seat sharing. The special status demand at this juncture is seen in that contest. Nitish would contest under NDA but wanted to assert his own importance and gain a bargaining power for seat adjustment.