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.
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'.
New Delhi: 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 PTI.
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.
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.
Patna: 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.
Patna: Bihar 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.
