Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday it’s a “beginning” after the Centre allotted special aid to facilitate development in the state but denied the long-standing demand for Bihar’s special status.
“We were speaking of special status, and a lot of people said that the provision for special status has been done away with much earlier. So, instead of that, aid should be given to help development in Bihar. Now, they have begun doing…,”Nitish Kumar said when asked if the demand for special status to the state will continue.
In a cryptic response to the Centre’s refusal to grant special category status to the state, Nitish Kumar said, “You will get to know all things slowly, and slowly (sab kuchh dhire dhire jaan jaaiyega).”
The demand for special status first for Bihar arose in 2000 when the creation of Jharkhand left the state shorn of its mineral-rich, and relatively more urbanised and industrialised areas.
Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) (JDU) is a key ally of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre. The JD(U) had emerged as a kingmaker as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) moved to form government in the government.
The Bihar Chief Minister’s response came when asked about the Union government’s Budget announcement in Parliament on Monday. In her Budget 2024 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a special package for Bihar and an investment of ₹26,000 crore in highway development in Bihar.
Sitharaman announced rehabilitation and irrigation projects and monetary assistance for flood-affected states such as Bihar, Assam, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. She also made announcements related to developing famous temples in Bihar.
The finance minister presented the first Union Budget of the Modi 3.0 government and her seventh consecutive one in Parliament on July 23. The budget session of Parliament began on July 22 and, according to schedule, will end on August 12.
