New Delhi: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday. He will discuss Bihar's fight for special status with the Centre.
Earlier on Sunday, the Bihar Chief Minister held a massive rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan where he took a jibe at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, criticising the development model in the state. "Taking everyone along is my model of development," he said, in a veiled reference to the Modi's speeches about the Gujarat model of development.
During his speech, he very clearly indicated that henceforth, whatever the Centre does, for or against Bihar, will have a bearing on the 2014 General Elections. Through his rally, political analysts say, Nitish was clearly making up a political issue in the run-up to the 2014 General Elections.
"This might be the first time that the Biharis have shown such strength in Delhi to get what they deserve. We have not been treated fairly. The Centre's policies have not been favourable. This is the time for the Centre to help Bihar. If helped by Centre, Bihar will be a developed state," Nitish said to loud cheering from the crowd.
Nitish further said that the Centre must not oppose similar demands from other backward states. "Do not oppose if other states started asking for special status too. If they fulfil the requirements, they should be helped, given the special status as well," he said. He added that the Adhikar rally was not a fight for Bihar alone, but for "other backward states too" and said that special status was Bihar's right. "Bihar is not begging for it. If they don't give the special status now, Bihar will get it after 2014," he said with a flourish.
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