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Monday, May 20th 02:35 PM IST
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Nitish Kumar GALLERY.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kuma's public advertisement on Sunday that his loyalty can be had by any political formation - so long as his demand for special status for Bihar was met - has been propitiously timed. With the DMK pulling out of the UPA government, pushing the already wobbly coalition to the brink of collapse, Nitish Kumar's offer of a lifeline in the event that it was needed has come as an enormous relief for the UPA. After meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Monday, Nitish Kumar said he had been told that the UPA government would set up a panel to consider Bihar's case for special status. What I've gathered after the meetings is that they will take it forward, which is a matter of great happiness, Nitish Kumar said in New Delhi. Media reports claim that the government would either form such a committee or allow the Finance Ministry to initiate the process, which would allow Bihar to secure loans and assistance from the Centre and provide tax waivers for industry willing to set up operations in Bihar. It is the clearest sign that the Congress is ready to meet Nitish Kumar's demand halfway - in order to wrest him from the NDA coalition, perhaps after the 2014 election, but even earlier if circumstances warrant them, particularly in the light of the DMK's pullout from the government. [caption id=attachment_667175 align=alignleft width=380 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kuma's
Nitish Kumar is seeking to champion politics of a different kind - economic victimhood and a supposed historical hurt. Going by the number of people he led to Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi and the enthusiasm they displayed during the public rally, the Bihar Chief Minister has by all accounts been successful in his first show of strength in national Capital. The fallout could be that it sowed seeds of a potential realignment of political forces in 2014. The Congress will now have reason to look at him with greater hope, while the BJP can no longer take its original ally and co-founder of the opposition alliance NDA, for granted. His message was simple, for now he didn't aspire to be the King in Delhi but he certainly would play the kingmaker in 2014, even if the king to be was not from his present alliance. Mark Nitish's words: Only he can reign in Delhi who feels for the backward states and poor people. One who can take everyone along..... Hindustan should be one, not divided between India and Bharat. While making these statements he sounded like an unattached politician who was bargaining for his position and his share of power at the centre than the second biggest partner of the NDA. Though the BJP has already supported his demand for special status to Bihar, it did not matter to him, at least at this stage. By referring to the 'one who must have reigns of Delhi must be one who can take everyone along' is an indirect indictment of BJP's undeclared Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Though he did not take any names, his remarks on Bihar pursuing the path of inclusive growth across development indices is again seen as an attack on Modi. We will leave everyone behind and move ahead with development. And we will present a model before the world. These days development model is being discussed. This model is what takes along everyone together. This is the real development model of India, the Chief Minister said, in an apparent reference to the 'Gujarat model'. [caption id=attachment_664772 align=alignleft width=380 Nitish Kumar is seeking to champion
strongNew Delhi/strong: Rejecting Nitish Kumar's charge that Bihar was being discriminated against and ignored by UPA government, Congress today said nobody should play politics on the issue of special status to the state. Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed reminded the Bihar Chief Minister as to how shabbily the state was treated when the NDA was in power at the Centre and alleged that the BJP-led alliance did not allow the government to give any special status or assistance to Bihar. Every Bihari wants more for Bihar, but nobody should play politics in the name of special status, he said hours after Kumar at a well attended rally at the Ramlila Maidan complained of the state being ignored by the Centre. Ahmed, who is a prominent Congress leader from Bihar and AICC in charge of West Bengal and Jharkhand, said that people still remember the attitude of Kumar and the NDA government and how they treated Bihar and Biharis at the time of division of Bihar. They treated Bihar very shabbily. They did not allow Government of India to give any special status or assistance to Bihar in spite of the fact that most wealth, whether above ground or below it, went to Jharkhand, Ahmed, a former Union Minister told emPTI/em. On the response to JD(U)'s rally in Delhi seeking special status for Bihar, he said, There are more than 15 lakh Biharis in Delhi, we do hope that it would have been a big gathering. Union Minister Rajiv Shukla countered Kumar's charge that Bihar was discriminated against and said the demand for special status was under consideration. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is doing justice with all the states irrespective of which party is in power there, he said. [caption id=attachment_664706 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi/strong: Rejecting N
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is all set to put on a show of strength in Delhi. His purpose - to pressurise the UPA government to accord 'special status' to Bihar. That being the case, the focus and approach of his party's rally should just be Bihar centric and of interest to people in Bihar. After all, for long the Bihar chief minister has been mobilising public support on the issue by holding public rallies across the state, using mass awareness campaigns as well as petitioning the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and the Planning Commission. But there is more to it. With the ruling Congress's increased softness towards Nitish Kumar and the latter's antipathy for BJP's undeclared Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, the Janata Dal (U) rally at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital assumes political significance beyond the boundaries of Bihar. [caption id=attachment_664044 align=alignleft width=380 Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar i
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday described the rail budget as 'disappointing' and alleged that while Congress ruled states were given sops other states including Bihar have been neglected. The Rail budget for 2013-14 is disappointing, Kumar, who served as Railway minister in NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, told reporters in Patna. [caption id=attachment_640502 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna: /strongBihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar put forth his wish list before Union Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday and asked him to make provision for completing various pending projects in Bihar. All railway projects proposed in Bihar were meant to be executed in a time frame, but that did not happen, Kumar, who was himself the Railway minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, said. He asked Bansal, who is scheduled to present the Rail Budget on Tuesday, to run some more trains from various destinations in Bihar, including Patna, to places like Delhi and to other states in view of the rush of passengers. [caption id=attachment_639166 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna: /strongBihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday slammed Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju for his 'unsubstantiated' remarks on curbs on press freedom in the state and trashed the PCI fact finding report. Katju has cross the lines behoving dignity of his constitutional post and attacked me without substance for muzzling freedom of press in Bihar, Kumar told the assembly. [caption id=attachment_633482 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today described as irresponsible Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's remarks linking BJP and RSS to Hindu terrorism and asked him to initiate action if he has any information or documents suggesting such charges. His statement (linking BJP and RSS to Hindu terrorism) is irresponsible and reflects his immaturity, Kumar told reporters. [caption id=attachment_599584 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, second from left, and Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, left, light a lamp with other Buddhist leaders at the Buddha Smriti Park in Patna, India, Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013. The Dalai Lama is in the city to participate in the three-day International Buddhist Conference beginning Jan. 5. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, right, walks with Chief Minister of Bihar state Nitish Kumar at the Patliputra Karuna Stupa in Patna, India, Friday, Jan. 4, 2013. The Dalai Lama is in the city to participate in the three-day International Buddhist Conference beginning Jan. 5. Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is poorer than his cabinet colleagues - as far as cash assets are concerned. According to details of movable and immovable assets declared by the chief minister and his cabinet ministers for 2012, Nitish Kumar has Rs 14,475 in cash. This was less than the Rs 46,974 he had in 2011. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi has Rs 20,000 in cash and Tourism Minister Sunil Kumar Pintu Rs 8.74 lakh. [caption id=attachment_576186 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday supported the appointment of a new CBI chief and made it clear that he had no objection to it. This comes as another setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had opposed the process of appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the new chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The BJP had sought the appointment to be kept on hold till the Lokpal Bill is passed. The bill provides for a collegium to pick the CBI chief. [caption id=attachment_535661 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
India's Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar (C) waves following his return from Pakistan at the India-Pakistan border in Wagah on November 16, 2012. The eleven-member state delegation to Pakistan led by Kumar returned after a weeklong visit. India's Bihar state Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar is a no-show and Rahul Gandhi puts up a fight. Well, that is the verdict of respondents to a survey that overwhelmingly preferred Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the future prime minister of India. Fifty-six percent of the respondents in the a href=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/modi-is-invincible-in-gujarat-india-today-org-survey/1/226194.html target=_blankemIndia Today-/emORG opinion poll conducted in Gujarat/awanted Modi as future prime minister while 35 percent voted for Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and a mere two percent preferred Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. [caption id=attachment_503556 align=alignleft width=380 Nitish Kumar is a no-show and Rahul
Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister, is planning to organise an 'Adhikar (rights) Yatra' in the streets riding on the power Janata Dal (United) has garnered after the exit of Trinamool Congress from UPA-II. The Chief Minister has embarked on a major roadshow from today and is planning his every more very carefully. I have made it clear that I will support any Party who grants special status to Bihar. It is clear that without the help of 40 MPs from Bihar there will be no government at the Centre, he said at a rally last week. [caption id=attachment_466200 align=alignleft width=380 Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister,
strongChapra:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today exuded confidence that the next government at the Centre will have to grant special status to Bihar as that government cannot be formed without the support of 40 MPs of the state. It is important that you (electorate of Bihar) should elect your MPs who steadfastly stand for special status demand for Bihar as their support will be key for formation of next government at the Centre, he said at the Adhikar Sammelan.[caption id=attachment_463823 align=alignleft width=380 strongChapra:/strong Bihar Chief Mi
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today flayed the Centre for hike in the price of diesel and restricting supply of cooking gas and said that the latter has inflicted a 'cruel joke' on the people who are reeling under the price rise and inflation. The hike in diesel price will particularly put additional burden on the farmers and will have a cascading effect on the prices of the food grains due to increase in transportation, he said. Inflation and price rise will further escalate due to the diesel price hike, Kumar said. [caption id=attachment_455601 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today defended the Director General of Police (DGP) Abhayanand's for justifying videography of the riots perpetrated by the supporters of the slain Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh alias Mukhiyaji on the streets in Patna instead of taking action against the rioters on 2 June last. The restraint shown by the district police at the behest of the DGP was fully justified in view of sensitivity and gravity of the situation, he told reporters. Had the police taken action against the rioters on the fateful day, the consequences could have been disastrous, Kumar said.[caption id=attachment_450399 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today refused to join issue with Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on the latter's praise for Sushma Swaraj as the BJP's best candidate for the prime minister's post and said he will give his opinion at an appropriate time. I will give my opinion (about the BJP's candidate for the prime minister's post) at the NDA meeting to be held at an appropriate time to discuss the matter, Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of the 'Janata Durbar.' [caption id=attachment_450317 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strongChief Minister Nitish Kumar todayexpressed surprise at Uddhav Thackeray's remarks that ShivSena will not support Kumar as NDA's Prime Ministerialcandidate for protesting the arrest of an accused by Mumbai police from Bihar and asked who has sought Sena's support andfor what. Ek adbhut bayan ek neta ka aya hai (an amazingstatement has come from a leader), he said referring toThackeray's rant against him for expressing disapproval of themanner of arrest of an accused from Bihar by the Mumbai policewithout informing the local police last week. [caption id=attachment_445174 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strongChief Minister N
strongPatna/Mumbai:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lashed out at the Maharashtra government for not taking action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his threat to throw Biharis out of Maharashtra. The MNS chief's diatribes against Biharis pose a challenge to all governments to deal with a person who has been holding out threat to the migrant people. People have the constitutional right to live and work in any part of the country, he told reporters in Patna. It is the duty of the central government and the government of the state (Maharashtra) to take note of the conduct of a person like Thackeray and deal sternly with such elements, Kumar said. [caption id=attachment_440619 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna/Mumbai:/strong Bihar Ch
strongNew Delhi:/strongBihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought an assurance from the BJP that his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi will not be NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections. Kumar made this clear to BJP President Nitin Gadkari when he met him during the oath taking ceremony of Pranab Mukherjee as President last month, sources close to the Bihar chief minister told emPTI/em. The sources said Gadkari had told Kumar that BJP has not discussed who would be its nominee for PM's post in 2014 Parliamentary polls and would definitely consult all NDA allies while finalising a name. Sources added that the senior JD(U) leader told the BJP President that general elections are nearing as only one-and- half year is left, so it would be better if NDA finalises its nominee for the top post and insisted that Modi should not be chosen. [caption id=attachment_405605 align=alignleft width=380 strongNew Delhi:/strongBihar Chief
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said it is not possible to accept FDI in multi-brand retail in the state as it is converse to policy of growth with justice. It is our considered view that as the domestic retailing is underdeveloped and is in a nascent stage, it is important that this sector is allowed to grow and consolidate first before any liberalisation, he said in a letter to Union Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textile Anand Sharma. [caption id=attachment_397170 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the state police was conducting an in-depth inquiry into the death of an Assam-based student Pritam Bhattacharya whose body was found near Katoriya station in Barauni-Katihar rail section on 17 July. Kumar said he had asked DGP Abhayanand to speak to his Assam counterpart on the death of the 25-year-old student who was travelling by the Awadh-Assam Express from Guwahati to New Delhi. [caption id=attachment_389389 align=alignleft width=380 strongPatna:/strong Bihar Chief Min
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Reuters Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
US actor Richard Gere (L) and Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar (C) pose with Tibetan Spiritual Leader The Dalai Lama and his new book 'Beyond Religion' during the last day of the Kalachakra Festival in Bodhgaya on January 10, 2012. Kalachakra 2012, a festival of teachings and meditations will take place from January 1, 2012 for ten days in the northern Indian state of Bihar and will be attended by Tibetan Spiritual Leader The Dalai Lama. AFP PHOTO/Diptendu DUTTA. US actor Richard Gere (L) and Chief
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Reuters Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Reuters
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Image courtesy PIB Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Nitish Kumar said that Bihar's demand for special status is fair and justified. Nitish Kumar said that Bihar's