Taking cue from Telugu Desam Party’s ministers quitting PM Narendra Modi’s cabinet over the issue of Andhra Pradesh being denied special category status, convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad asked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to follow suit and demand the same for his state as well.
A tweet from jailed Lalu Prasad Yadav’s official Twitter handle accused JD(U) president Nitish Kumar of “surrendering Bihar’s benefits” for “personal gains” by not asking Narendra Modi to accord special status to Bihar, as he had promised during a rally before Lok Sabha elections of 2014.
Reiterating Lalu’s statements, RJD spokesperson Manoj Jha slammed Nitish for not imitating Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, who asked his party’s minister to resign from the Union cabinet this week because the government refused to grant special status to the southern state.
Jha warned Nitish Kumar of widespread protests by his party if the government fails to secure special status for Bihar. Taking pot shots at the chief minister, Jha said Kumar has been living in “mortal fear” of PM Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah ever since he “betrayed” peoples’ mandate by breaking JD(U)’s alliance with RJD and Congress to form the government with BJP.
Apart from RJD, JD(U) itself has cited Andhra Pradesh’s example to rekindle Bihar’s demand for special category status. Senior party leader KC Tyagi has said that Bihar is in the same position as Andhra today, as all of its resource had gone away to Jharkhand during its bifurcation. He said Bihar needs special attention from the Centre as it has been lagging behind many other states despite ensuring fast growth in recent years.