Setback for Nitish Kumar: Centre refuses to give special status to Bihar

NEW DELHI: JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar suffered a setback on Monday after the central government denied his party's demand to grant a special status to Bihar. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Choudhary said in the Lok Sabha that Bihar is not eligible for special status as per the National Development Council criteria.

The Centre’s response came on a question posed by JD (U) MP Ramprit Mandal in Lok Sabha. The JD (U) had asked the Finance Ministry whether the government proposes to provide special status to Bihar and other backward states to promote economic growth and industrialisation.

Replying to the question, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary stated, "The Special Category Status for plan assistance was granted in the past by the National Development Council (NDC) to some States that were characterised by a number of features necessitating special consideration.

"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 added.

The rejection of special status demand for Bihar, despite Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) in alliance with the BJP in the state as well as the Centre, prompted Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to hit out at the ruling party in Bihar.

The RJD in a post on X, mocked the BJP-JD(U) alliance and said that Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar have given the Bihar ‘special state’ toy.

It further said that Nitish Kumar bowed down to the BJP and lowered demand from special state to special package but that was also refused.

The party also demanded that Bihar CM Nitish Kumar tender his resignation for failing to get special category status.