Special status to all backward states

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has taken a lead in attempting to unite the Opposition ahead of the 2024 national elections, on Thursday renewed his party's attack on the Centre for not giving special status to Bihar, declaring that all backward states, including Bihar, will get special status if Opposition parties succeed in forming the next government at the Centre.

"We are trying to unite as many people (parties) as possible… If we get a chance to form the next government at the Centre, all backward states will definitely get special category status. There is no reason why it cannot be done," Nitish Kumar told reporters after an event in Patna to launch the installation of solar streetlights in the state's 8,061 panchayats.

At the event a few minutes earlier, Nitish Kumar took a swipe at the Modi government for not granting special status to Bihar and other backward states and accused the BJP government at the Centre of relying on propaganda rather than working for the country's benefit.

"What all we got from the Centre? Had we been granted the special status category, Bihar would have benefited in different sectors. Bihar would have changed… I am not talking of Bihar only, some other backward states should be granted the same status for development," he said. He did not specify the 'backward' states that he had in mind.

In response to questions from reporters on the sidelines of the event, Nitish Kumar converted his demand into a promise on behalf of the Opposition Front that he is trying to shape. The Chief Minister - he led the Bihar government in partnership with the BJP till last month when he swapped the NDA for the seven-party Grand Alliance that includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress - was in Delhi for three days to meet Opposition leaders in an effort to cobble up a joint front to take on the BJP in 2024. Nitish Kumar has repeatedly said that he was not aspiring to be the PM face of this front.

Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United has been demanding special status for Bihar sometime after he first came to power in the state in 2005. The demand was rejected by the previous UPA government led by Manmohan Singh and subsequently, the NDA.

In his speech, Nitish Kumar also accused the Centre of believing in propaganda rather than working for the people. "People at the Centre believe in propaganda, we believe in work," he said.

Countering the BJP's criticism of his governance record, Nish Kumar said the BJP "was speaking as if nothing has been done in the state and nothing is happening in the state". He said the Centre's Har Ghar Jal Scheme, which was launched by the Centre for the country in 2019, was originally a Bihar government scheme which was picked by the Centre.

"Har Ghar Jal was a state government scheme that was emulated by the Centre. They even tried to convince us to give credit to the Centre for the scheme," he said, reeling off other schemes and steps taken by his government for women and the poor.